


Meeting Your Maker (Literally)

by Glove23



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Chapter Fic, De-aged Harry Ron and Hermione, Harry goes back, Marauder Fifth Year, Marauders' Era, Not Epilogue Compliant, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 56,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4123167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glove23/pseuds/Glove23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter decides he is not happy with his lot after the war has ended. He decides he needs to go back in time to fix it. Only, he neglects to tell Ron and Hermione.<br/>It seemed like a good idea at the time.<br/>Ron, Hermione, and Harry go back to the Marauders' fifth year to help change the outcome of the war.<br/>They didn't think it through very well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Meeting Your Maker  
Prologue  
\-----------------------------------------------

Harry didn't know what he was doing. Breaking into the Ministry of Magic unnoticed when you're The Boy Who Lived isn't an easy feat, even if breaking into the Ministry was probably easier than it should be, given the amount of information stored there. Hermione would be horrified if she found out. Not that he's planning on letting her find out. Whatever the Prophet might say, he was not an idiot.

Well. Considering the reason he was at the Ministry, maybe he was.

It was two weeks ago when they held the funeral for all those who had died in the war against Voldemort. Having to listen as people spoke, and having to speak himself, about all those who died... It was like watching them fall all over again.

It was then Harry decided he needed to change it.

There were so many people who didn't deserve to die in this war. Remus, Tonks, Fred, Colin, Ted Tonks, Mad-Eye, and countless of others.

So he came up with a plan involving complicated potions, breaking into high security areas, and various other illegal actions.

The complicated potions bit had to be the hardest part, because he couldn't ask Hermione. She'd either tell him everything wrong with his plan and want her and Ron to come with him.

He couldn't let her do that.

With this plan... he wasn't planning on coming back. He couldn't do that to them. Ron and Hermione had a future here. Harry couldn't take that away from them. Ron was an Auror, Hermione on her way to being the youngest Department Head in centuries.

He just couldn't ask this of them. That is why he came to the Ministry when he was sure they were off work, so he wouldn't run into them.

"Harry!"

Apparently not sure enough.

Turning slowly, so as not to make the potions vials in his pocket clink, Harry forced a smile on his face.

"Ron! Hermione! Fancy see you here. I thought you got off early on Fridays?" Harry glanced quickly between his two best friends, taking in the fact that they were not at all fooled by the smile. Or his question.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Hermione asked, not beating around the bush.

"I um..." Harry glanced at Ron for help, but Ron looked just as suspicious as Hermione. "I, uh, had a meeting with the Minister! Yes, I have a meeting with Kingsley."

If anything, Hermione's suspicion grew. "Then why are you skulking around the Experimental Potions department? The Minister's office is two floors away." She exchanged a concerned look with Ron. "Harry, what is going on? You've been holed up in Grimmuald for two weeks, ever since the funeral. We've been really worried about you."

Harry looked to the floor and shuffled his feet, attempting to come up with an adequate excuse. "Well-"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Harry James Potter. No matter how worried I am, I will still hex you."

Harry sighed in defeat. She would know if he was lying, and wasn't bluffing about hexing him.

"Okay. I was researching the potion Voldemort used to give himself a body-"

"Harry."

"Fine. I was stealing a de-aging potion. Happy?" Harry looked from Hermione, who looked even more concerned, and more than a little angry, to Ron, who looked like he was about to laugh or cry.

It was laugh.

Ron clutched his stomach as he exploded into laughter, bent double and nearly crying. "S-s-sorry, it is just so ridiculous. Why would you want to de-age yourself? You were an awkward kid, Harry, no offence, but it's true."

Harry just kind of looked at him till his laughter subsided. "I'm going back in time."

Any trace of laughter vanished from Ron's face. "Uh, alright. Then what, mate?"

"And then what? Ronald Weasley, what is wrong with you?" Hermione practically shrieked.

Both boys winced. "Um, guys, can we maybe take this somewhere more private?" Harry asked, glancing cautiously around.

Hermione looked at him, her eyes full of fire, before grabbing their arms and dragging them a floor up to the Department For The Regulation And Control Of Magical Creatures, where her office was located.

Well. It was an office in the loosest sense of the word. It was a cubicle. A rather small cubicle at that.

She bodily threw Ron and Harry in, following after them and throwing up privacy wards.

"What do you mean, you're going back in time?" Hermione demanded.

"Well, generally, when someone says they are going back in time, that is exactly what they mean." Harry leaned against the cubicles wall and crossed his arms, preparing to defend himself.

"And when were you going to tell us?"

Harry and Hermione looked over at Ron, who had sat backwards in Hermione's swivel chair with his chin propped on his arms.

"What? Its a fair question." Ron looked between the other two, and Hermione turned back to Harry, the question clear on her face.

"I wasn't. I didn't want to ruin your lives with my hero complex." Harry dropped his arms and looked anywhere but at the two people in front of him.

"Oh, Harry. You could never ruin our lives." Hermione threw herself at Harry and wrapped her arms around him, Ron following a moment after.

"Hermione, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I just figured you'd want to stay here. Get on with your life. Not waste it fighting the same dark wizard over again." Harry mumbled into Hermione's shoulder. Ron cleared his throat, and Harry laughed. "You too, Ron. I should've told you both as soon as I thought of it."

"You're damn right you should have. Now, why do you need a de-aging potion to travel in time?" Ron asked, releasing them both and moving back to the chair.

"Well, I was planning on going back around their fifth year, and so I'd need to be a few years younger to be able to fit in with them. I certainly wouldn't trust an eighteen year old trying to be my friend when we were fifteen."

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. "What do you mean by their fifth year, Harry? Don't you mean ours?" Hermione looked confused, while Ron had a look of dawning realization.

"Mate, no. You can't be serious." Harry looked at his best friend and smiled for the first time in what seemed like years.

"No, Ron. He will be."

Ron struggled to remain stoic has he held back his laughter. That would only encourage him.

"He will be? Harry, what are you going on abo-" Hermione cut off as she gasped. "No! Harry! That is over twenty years! There is no way you'd be able to find something to send you back that far!"

"Listen to Hermione, mate. She studied these things." Ron nodded in agreement with his own words, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"Honestly, Ronald." She shook her head. "Harry-"

"Look Hermione, I know it is dangerous, I actually did do my research," Here he threw a pointed look at Ron which was ignored. "I know it is likely to get me killed, but what hasn't been? Things have been trying to kill me since I was one year old. You can't honestly expect that just because Voldemort is gone means I am going to be completely safe. He still has followers out there who will not rest until I am six feet under."

Harry jumped up to sit on Hermione's desk, and fiddled with his wand. "At least if I go back, I'll have a family to fight for. I won't be alone."

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione once again launched herself at Harry. "You aren't alone. We, Ron and I, the other Weasleys, Andromeda and Teddy, we are your family. We wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"I know, 'Mione. You guys are my family. In everything but blood." Here he looked skeptical. "Okay, maybe a little in blood. We have bled together a lot." Ron laughed and joined the hug.

"I know you are my family. But... I just need the people who made me. Who were robbed of the chance to raise me. My parents. Sirius. Remus. I need to know them." Harry pulled back to look at Hermione's tear stained face and Ron's somber one. "You understand, don't you?"

"'Course, mate. That's why we're coming with you." Ron said, and Hermione nodded vigorously.

"No. Absolutely not." Harry looked between his two best friends and recognized the determination there. They were not going to give up. Harry sighed. "Fine. But that means we have to get more potion."

Ron grinned and Hermione tightened her arms around him.

"Of course. We'll never leave you, Harry."

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it turned out, breaking into the experimental potions department of the Ministry twice in the same day is not a smart idea. They were very much on guard.

Good thing they were Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, the saviors of the Wizarding World. Otherwise people might've thought they were up to something.

"It's Harry Potter!"

"I told you we should've come under the cloak." Harry muttered to Hermione right before he was surrounded.

Even though everyone knew Ron and Hermione had a key part in taking down Voldemort, most people still flocked Harry first since he was the one who cast the actual spell that killed him. (Actually false, he only disarmed him, but the world believes what the world believes.)

Since this was the case, Ron and Hermione had the opportunity to slip away unnoticed.

They had planned for this. Unfortunately.

"So, Harry." The girl in front of him fluttered her eyelashes and smiled with a small pucker of her lips. He vaguely recognized her as being a few years ahead of him at Hogwarts. A Ravenclaw, maybe? "I was thinking, at the start of the summer, you had this really long hair. And you looked incredibly hot."

Harry was taken aback. "What?"

"I think you should grow it out again." The girl was nodding, as were the people surrounding her.

"Yeah Harry." Ron said as he and Hermione walked back up to him, Hermione slipping something into her pocket. "You should grow it out again." Ron snickered and Hermione managed a small smile.

Rolling his eyes, Harry turned back to the girl.

"Sure. Why not. I will grow my hair out, just for you." He looked the girl straight in the eye and said the words with the straightest face he could muster. The girls cheeks reddened, and she squeaked. Harry smiled. "Alright. See you around then."

Hermione, Ron, and Harry all turned on their heels and walked out of the experimental potions department. Once they were out, they headed straight for the lifts.

"So... Department of Mysteries?" Hermione asked hesitantly. They both looked to Harry, who had had the worst experience down there by far.

He took a deep breath. "Department of Mysteries."

Hermione nodded and jammed the button for that floor and the golden grills clanged shut.

As the lift descended, Harry couldn't help but remember the last time he had been down in the Department of Mysteries and everything that transpired from that night. Sirius. The Prophecy. Death Eaters. Sirius. Bellatrix. Voldemort. Dumbledore. Sirius. Prophecy. Bright lights flashed before his eyes, and a man's barking laugh echoed through his mind.

" _Is that the best you can do?"_

_"Sirius!"_

_"Crucio!"_

_"You have to mean it, Potter!"_

_"He's not lying, Bella."_

_"Let me out."_

_"You have no idea what I'm going through!"_

"Harry."

Ron's voice cut through the cacophony of voices running through his head.

"You alright?" Harry nodded, and Ron tossed his arm around his shoulders. "Good. Because we're here."

The grills slide open with a crash, and the trio stepped out.

An Unspeakable was stepping through the door that the far end of the hall, and she looked at them strangely. She opened her mouth to question them when suddenly she seemed to recognize them and ducked her head, scurrying past them into the lift.

Harry and Ron exchanged looks while Hermione rolled her eyes and strode forward, towards the large black door at the end of the hall.

"Ready?" Hermione glanced between the boys, her gaze lingering on Harry a second longer as they nodded. "Right." She reached out and turned the handle, pulling the door open and stepping inside, Ron and Harry following a second after.

The room was dark, the same way it was three years before. Harry suppressed the screams that threatened to overwhelm him, and pulled the door shut behind him. The torches lit around them, illuminating the doors lining the walls of the circular room.

"Looks like things haven't changed much." Ron said dryly.

"Which means...." Hermione trailed off as the room started to spin, the torches blurring blue lines around them. Harry looked at his friends to see that Ron had gone pale, and Hermione's eyes had gone wide. Harry reached over and grabbed Hermione and Ron's hands and squeezed. They both looked over at him, and he smiled reassuringly.

"I wouldn't hold it against you if you don't want to come. I can do this by myself." Harry looked at Ron, then Hermione. "Honestly."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Fuck that, Harry. We're coming with you."

"Ronald! Language!" Hermione's scandalized tone brought them all back to Hogwarts, sitting in the Library, asking Hermione to do their homework. Ron and Harry shared a nostalgic looked before Hermione sighed.

"He's right though, Harry. We'd never let you do something like this on your own. Not if we have the choice of going with you."

"Fine." He sighed, before grinning at the pair of them. "Let's get this over with then. Wands out."

They both pulled their wands while Harry strode to a door at random and cautiously pulled it open. A slight breeze rippled out of the open door, coming from the arch in the center of the room. Harry stared, transfixed as voices flooded his head.

_"Lily! Take Harry and go!"_

_"Not Harry! Please, take me instead!"_

_"Bring my body back, to my family."_

_"You'll have to do better than that!"_

_"Severus..."_

_"She won't be in the middle of the fighting..."_

_"Where's Remus?"_

_"You're joking Perce! I don't think I've heard you joke since..."_

_"You've been so brave."_

_"Until the very end."_

_"We're part of you. Invisible to anyone else."_

The door slammed shut, and the room was spinning again. Harry hadn't realized he was crying, till his hand came away from his face wet. Ron and Hermione stood before him, similar tear tracks down their faces. Hermione was obviously the one who closed the door, from the position she was standing, so close to the wall.

"Are you two okay?" She asked, her voice shaky.

"No, 'Mione. I'm not bloody well okay. I just heard everyone I've ever loved who died's last words. Who would be okay after that?" Ron sat down hard on the floor, and buried his face in his hands.

"I mean, I've been worse, but I'm not okay." Harry sat next to Ron, and leaned against the wall when it slowed to a stop. "I thought that if I never came in contact with dementors again, I would never have to hear them. Apparently, the universe is out to get me."

"Oh Ron, Harry. If everything works today, no one will ever have said those words. We can save all of them." Hermione crouched down in front of them, trying to look into their eyes.

"But that won't stop me from remembering it, Hermione." Ron's voice came out muffled from behind his hands. "I'll still hear him, see his face, every time I go to sleep. I'll still remember Mum crying every night. Still remember Percy not even coming out of his room for the funeral. Remember George. All alone..." His shoulders shook, and sobs wracked his body.

Harry put his arm around his shoulders, and Hermione put hers around his waist, both of them holding him till his sobs subsided.

"We can always wipe your me-"

"NO! Hermione, can you hear yourself? As much as it hurts to remember, it would hurt even more to forget. Because then I wouldn't know why." Ron's voiced broke.

"If you don't want to go, I'll understa-"

"I may not want to forget their deaths, but I still want to see them again, Harry, so don't give me that. You've heard worse things than me, though mate. Why are you freaking out?"

"Sort of used to it, aren't I? It's not really the first time I've heard their voices. Not even the first time today." Harry looked away from the pity in Hermione's eyes, and stood up. "There is no use dwelling on it, and the longer we stay here the higher the risk of getting caught. We should move."

 

"Harry..." Hermione tried to reach for his hand, but he moved toward another door.

He wasn't trying to push Hermione and Ron out of his problems. He actually felt better after talking to them. Right now though, he just didn't have time to break down. He had a job to do. He had to save the people he loved.

Harry pulled open the door, and saw dancing silver lights.

"This is it."

Hermione and Ron stepped up on either side of him, and peered through the door.

"Great. Another place we almost died." Ron deadpanned, before pushing his way past Harry and into the room. "So... where are we supposed to find a Time Turner? Didn't we destroy all of them three years ago?"

"Yes, Ronald. But they do have the abilities to make more, you know." Hermione said as she started opening cabinets.

Ron rolled his eyes and mouthed her words mockingly to himself.

"Found them!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry and Ron exchanged "Of Course" looks before rushing to her side.

"Wow. That is bigger than the one you had, Hermione." Harry commented.

"Well, mine was used for going back short periods of time, like three hours. I think this one, maybe, goes back further. That is why it has to be so big. Or wise it wouldn't be able to have all of the number combinations required. Years, and months, and days, and hours." Hermione said, pointing to each corresponding ring. "I don't think I can lift this myself. And besides, we'd have to all be holding it anyway. Everyone pick a side." Hermione grabbed one side, while Ron and Harry grabbed the others.

"Alright. We should drink the potion before we leave, we don't know how long we will have before someone finds us. It is still and time of war there after all." Harry said, digging in his pocket for the vial of potion. Hermione pulled out the others and handed one to Ron, popping the lid off the other one.

"All at the same time?" Ron suggested.

Harry and Hermione nodded, and lifted their vials to their lips.

"One..." Ron started.

"Two..." Hermione breathed.

Harry took a deep breath.

"Three."

The all downed the potion and gasped as heat flooded their bodies. They could feel their bodies shrinking, their hair getting longer and shaggier. Hermione and Harry could feel their clothes get baggier, while Ron's just scrunched up at his ankles, and hung over his hands.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds, leaving the trio gasping for air.

"That was..." Hermione, for once seemed at a loss for words.

"Intense?" Ron suggested.

Hermione nodded, her hands moving up to her hair, and she moaned in anguish.

Harry looked at his friends, and took in how they looked at fifteen.

They looked... young. It is hard to believe all of the things they did at that age, and younger.

Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines as she glanced back and forth between the boys. Ron, on the other hand, appeared to be holding back laughter.

"What?" Harry asked him. "What is so funny?"

Ron doubled over as his laughter rang through the time room. "I-I never realize how funny you looked when we were fifteen Harry! You look like a stick figure with crazy hair. Knowing how you look now, and seeing how you looked then. Its just really funny."

"Ron, you're ridiculous." Hermione shook her head, and lifted the time turner higher. "Are we ready?"

Ron nodded, his face sobering up.

"Yeah. Set it for July thirty-first, nineteen-seventy-five. That is the summer before their fifth year." Harry looked between his two best friends. "Ready."

"Ready." They chorused.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

Hermione flipped the time turner, and it started spinning, slowly at first, but gaining speed. The space around them began to blur. Harry started to get dizzy, and he felt like he was floating. He closed his eyes, and clutched the time turner tighter.

Their feet slammed into the ground, and they crumbled to it.

Gasping and aching, Harry pushed himself to his feet. Looking around, he barely noticed any difference. The tables were in slightly different areas, the cabinets a different style, less artifacts.

A major difference soon made itself clear.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all jumped when the intruder alarm started wailing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo A Chapter Fic.  
> Never before seen.  
> Except for the idea.  
> Kinda old hat.  
> Thanks for reading!  
> Glove


	2. No Such Thing As Coincidence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well Hermione, Harry, and Ron. My name is Charlus Potter and I would like to take you home with me."
> 
> Hermione inhaled sharply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of short I've been crunched for time... and also lazy.  
> Hope you like it :-)

Meeting Your Maker (Literally) Chapter 1 No Such Thing As Coincidence  
\---------------------------------

The Trio could hear footsteps pounding down the corridor toward them. They exchanged panicked looks.

"What now?" Ron whispered.

They stared at each other a moment longer before Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Harry! The cloak!" Hermione gasped.

Harry reached into his pocket and yanked his Invisibility Cloak out, and threw it over the three of them.

"Our feet!" Hermione whispered harshly.

Ron quickly pulled out his wand and rapped it sharply on each of their heads, causing the Disillusionment Charm to wash over them, disguising their feet.

"Corner." Harry muttered as the footsteps got louder.

They shuffled quickly and silently into the nearest corner, which happened to be right behind the door.

They realized their mistake when the aforementioned door flew open, and promptly whacked Ron in the nose.

"Bloody fu-" His shout was cut off by Hermione slapping her hand over his mouth, but the damage had been done.

"Show yourselves." A man with carefully combed hair, that still managed to stick up in the back, ordered. "We know you are in here. There are spells for that kind of thing, you know." His eyes scanned the room, finally landing on the corner they stood in. Hermione shuffled farther back into the corner, and a smirk came over the man's face.

"How, I wonder, did you manage to hide everything from view but your feet? You obviously Disillusioned them, but where is everything else?" He had a curious gleam in his brown eyes, and he glanced at the men around him. "You are all dismissed. I can take it from here."

The men, who the Trio assumed were Aurors, looked at each other, shrugged and trooped out the doors. Ron was speechless. How could these men just leave this man to fend for himself to an unknown enemy? Who trained them? Ron and Harry weren't yet Aurors, but were steadily making their way there. They had started training the week before and already knew you never left another Auror alone with an unknown enemy.

 

"Look. If you'd just come out from under that cloak, that would make this a lot easier." The man sounded battered and beaten down. Harry sympathized. He also thought he knew the man. He looked awfully familiar.

"Please."

Harry reached up and slowly pulled the Invisibility Cloak off their bodies, earning a shocked look from Hermione, and a resigned look from Ron.

"James?" The man exclaimed, shocked. He squinted, moving closer. "Not James. Who are you and why do you look like my son?"

Hermione's eyes grew wide, and Ron froze.

"Who are you?"

Harry couldn't move. The man's gaze- his grandfather's- was boring into him, holding him in place.

"Answer me."

"Harry."

He turned sharply towards his name, towards Hermione, who had just uttered his name like it wasn't a damning 'Admitted To Saint Mungos' declaration.

"Tell him or I will." Her eyes pleaded with him, and suddenly he flashed back to their actual fifth year, in Umbridge's office, and fake tears.

"Hermione..." Harry pleaded. "Please..."

"Hermione, don't." Ron warned.

"I can't. I have to." She turned to the man. "We came looking for information on our parents. We-" She swallowed. "We never knew them. We thought maybe the Ministry would have some inforamtion, but we didn't think they'd just give it out to three minors."

"So your next solution was breaking in?" The man looked doubtful.

"Well yes... I realize now it wasn't a very bright decision."

Ron held back a snort. He thought back to the last time they broke into the Ministry, and how well that had turned out.

"Alright. You say you're all... siblings?" He eyed Hermione's hair next to Ron's, the various complexions, nothing about any of them saything they were related except for the way they held themselves. The one boy standing slightly in front of the girl, as if he were ready to jump in front of her and protect her with his life. The other stood close to her back, his hand brushing hers, the other near his pocket, as if ready to draw his wand at a moments notice to defend the other two. And the girl. She looked completely at ease in between these two wizards who looked as if they would give their lives for her.

Not that he saw any reason why three children would look so... battle hardened. The black haired boy... he had that look in his eyes. The look that said he had seen and experienced things that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The girl shifted in front of the ginger boy, and his fingers snagged her wrist.

"Yes sir. These are my brothers."

Harry glanced sideways at Hermione, and saw the small smile on her face as she said those words, and felt a rush of affection for the two people standing next to him.

"Alright. Let's say I believe you. What are your names?"

"Um..." Hermione glanced between the two boys and seemed to realize neither of them were going to speak. "My name is Hermione. Hermione Granger. This... is Harry... Granger." Harry smiled and shrugged his shoulders a bit when Hermione gestured to him. "And this is Ronald Granger." Hermione said Ron's 'name' with considerably more confidence than she had said Harry's, and he wondered if she ever wrote in the margins of her notes.

The tips of Ron's ears turned a light pink, and Harry had to stifle a snort.

"Well Hermione, Harry, and Ron. My name is Charlus Potter and I would like to take you home with me."

Hermione inhaled sharply.

"Sir, there is really no need." Harry said. "We live in an orphanage, and surely they have noticed we are missing by now. We should be going." He grabbed Ron and Hermione's hands and started to pull them toward the door when Charlus spoke again.

"Nonsense. My wife, Dorea, and I have plenty of room at our house, and I know my son wouldn't mind a few more friends. I won't have you staying at an orphanage when I can do something about it." He had a soft smile on his face. A fatherly smile. Harry had thought he was past the point in his life where he wanted a father.

The yearning in his heart said differently.

"But sir. You don't even know us, we could-"

"Okay." Harry cut Hermione off, and she gave him an incredulous look.

"Wonderful. Come with me to my office, and we can floo over."

\----------------------------------------------------

"Harry, we can't go with him, we don't even know him." Hermione whispered to him as the trecked to the lift.

"Hermione, we don't have much of a choice. Besides," Harry glanced at Charlus and lowered his voice even further. "He's my grandfather. My father's father. I just met my grandfather for the first time in my life, and you don't want me to go with him?" His eyes pleaded with her to understand, and she did. She really did.

But this was a risk she wasn't willing to take.

"Harry. Your father will be there. James Potter. How are you going to explain the resemblance?" Her tone was slightly triumphant, like she had finally gotten him to understand that he was asking them to take a stupid risk.

She was wrong.

"I don't know, Hermione. I suppose they'll just think it is a coincidence." Harry shrugged his shoulders, and moved past her to walk beside Charlus.

"So, Mister Potter." He started, swinging his arms at his sides. "You said you have a son? That is our age?"

"Well, if you are fifteen, which you look about to be, yes. His name is James." Charlus smiled slightly at the thought of his son, and the yearning in Harry's heart grew.

He shook himself. This had to stop. This wasn't his family, his family died a long time ago. Harry couldn't look at these people that way, because that road is one that leads to heartache.

"Does he go to school?" Hermione asked from the other side of Charlus, as they stepped into the lift. Harry looked at her strangely, but she just gave him her patented "Just go with it, I know what I'm doing" look, as the grills clanged shut.

"Yes, he does. James goes to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'm going to assume you three don't go there?" Charlus looked around at the three of them, and they all shook their heads.

"Then where did you go? You can't broken into the Ministry of Magic with absolutely no training."

Harry and Ron stared at Hermione, willing her to have come up with a cover story for this, because the two of them were drawing blanks.

"Oh of course not." Hermione said with a small smile. "We actually home schooled ourselves."

"Really?" The surprise in Charlus voice was palpable. "I've never actually heard of children schooling themselves. And it being effective."

"Yes, well, growing up in a muggle orphanage didn't exactly give us the chance for schooling. We each got letters on our birthday for Hogwarts, of course. But we didn't have any money, nor would our caregiver, Mrs. Hal, let us go seeing as we helped a lot with the younger children." Hermione cast her eyes to the floor, and the boys hastily did the same in case Charlus looked at them.

"That is... horrible. She denied you education so she could have free labor?" Hermione nodded, and wiped her hand under her eyes. Ron put his arm around her and Harry grabbed her hand, showing that they were there and she didn't have to "cry" anymore for Charlus.

"I'm alright, guys, really." Hermione looked at both of them, a small smile on her face. Her eyes held smug triumph, and dared them to do better than her.

"If you don't mind my asking, if you didn't have any money, how did you get the supplies to train yourselves?" Charlus turned a critical eye on the three of them, as if expecting them to say they stole it.

"Oh well, for books and things, we just went to the Wizarding Library in Diagon Alley. We didn't even have to check anything out, we just brought paper and copied relevant information." Ron said, tossing a smug look to Hermione, who was trying very hard to hide her surprise.

"Yeah, and for wands, we just went out and did small jobs in the muggle world that paid us, and then traded the muggle money for galleons." Harry smiled, looking at Ron and Hermione. Hermione smiled back, but Ron just rolled his eyes.

"I see. Well, I must say I am very impressed with the three of you. You have shown responsablity at a young age, when few adult wizards and witches could have shown the same." Charlus patted each of them on the back as the grills slide open and they stepped out.

"My office is just up here." Charlus pointed, as the Trio looked around. Something about this area looked familiar to Harry.

"Here we are." Charlus had stopped in front of a door marked with the words "Head of Magical Law Enforcement."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione just stared wide eyed at the door.

Charlus looked at the Trio for a moment, before pushing open the door and stepping inside. They followed him to the fireplace, where he took up a jar of sparkling gray dust. Charlus scooped out a handful, before realizing something.

"None of you have ever used the floo before have you?" He questioned. They shook their heads and he sighed. "Very well. I'll go first and tell my wife you're coming, then I'l come back to help you through. Just sit down, I'll be back in a moment." Once they nodded, he tossed in the floo powder, stepped into the flames and shouted, "Potter Manor!" before swirling off.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped out.

"I know, Hermione." Harry sat down in a chair in front of the desk.

"You're gr-" She cut herself off, glancing around the office. "You're, you know, is the Head of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"I know, Hermione, I know."

"What have you gotten us into?"

"Well, I didn't exactly know he would be the one to find us, did I? And I wouldn't have gotten us into anything, if you two hadn't have come."

"Oh please. Like you would actually have done this without us." Ron sat in the chair behind the desk, and looked as if he were contemplating putting his feet up on it. Hermione looked like she completely agreed with Ron, and stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Of course I would have done this without you, I don't need your help with every thing I do. In fact I would have preferred it if you stayed back, because then I wouldn't have to worry-" Harry cut off abruptly as green flames roared to life in the fireplace, and Charlus stepped out.

"Everything is ready. Now, Harry. If you would step up to the fireplace, please." Charlus gestured, and Harry obliged. "Right. You just take a handful of floo powder," Here he held out the jar to Harry and he took a handful like instructed. "Good. Now, toss it in the fireplace and step in."

Harry looked over at his grandfather like he was crazy, very much like he remembered doing to Mrs. Weasley when she instructed him the same.

Charlus chuckled. "You'll be fine, trust me." Harry tossed the powder in, and the flames burst into the farmilliar emerald of floo travel, and he stepped in. The flames tickled about his knees.

"Now, just say 'Potter Manor' and you'll be off." Charlus nodded encouragingly, and Harry swallowed.

One.

Two.

Three!

"Potter Manor!" He shouted, and the office was gone in a blur of green flame, and he was spinning, spinning, catching glimpses of Wizarding households connected to the Floo Network, and then he was tumbling out of the fireplace onto an ornate rug.

"Alright there, dear?"

Harry looked up and was confronted with the smiling face of his grandmother.

She looked nothing like he pictured she would, all dark reddish-brown hair and typical Black grey eyes.

"You might want to get off the rug, your siblings will be through in a moment." Dorea Potter smiled kindly at him, and as if on cue, Ron fell through the fireplace and landed on top of Harry.

"Ugh, Ron, get off you weigh a ton, what have you been eating, rocks?" Harry groaned from underneath of him.

Ron laughed. "Remember the fish? Might as well have been eating rocks." He stood up and helped a laughing Harry to his feet.

"Don't let 'Mione hear you say that." Harry grinned at his friend as the fireplace roared again, spitting out Hermione. The boys caught her before she hit the floor, and she smiled gratefully at them.

"Thanks. Don't let Hermione hear you say what?" She glanced innocently from boy to boy, both of which had frozen, staring at each other.

The fireplace roared to life and Charlus stepped neatly out of the flames. "Well. I believe it's time for lunch."

The boys sagged with relief, and Dorea hid her smile behind her hand.

Hermione stepped up to Ron and Harry and murmured so Dorea and Charlus couldn't hear, "I'm going to get whatever it was out eventually. Better fess up now."

Ron's ears burned and Harry smiled innocently, before they all followed Dorea and Charlus into a kitchen bustling with House Elves. Someone was already sitting at the table, leaning over a piece of parchment scribbling furiously.

"Dear, put that away. We have guests." Dorea lightly scolded the boy, and he slid the parchment off the table into a small bag before looking up.

He scanned over the trio before his eyes landing on Harry, who was currently gazing intently at the floor.

"Hi," He started and Harry's head shot up, locking eyes with him. "I'm James."


	3. Family Necessities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to respond, but Harry cut through her.
> 
> "We could tell them the truth."
> 
> Ron and Hermione both turned to stare at Harry, mouths open, eyes wide.
> 
> "Harry..." Hermione started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 will be posted on July 25th.  
> Enjoy :)

Hermione stared at James, while Ron was looking back a forth, understanding in his eyes.

Harry, on the other hand, wasn't staring at anything but the floor.

He had heard enough stories from Remus and Sirius to know how infatuated James was with his mum, Lily. He also knew from literally everyone who met him who had known his mother, that his eyes are exactly the same. Now, if James really was as obsessed with Lily as everyone said he was, he was sure to recognize her eyes on him.

And that would only lead to him figuring everything out, and that is something Harry cannot let happen.

Charlus looked between the three of them, as if expecting them to say their names. Hermione looked up at him, and he nodded encouragingly, but she just looked down at the floor. He sighed.  
"James, this is Hermione," He pointed at her, and she raised her head and waved feebly. "Ron," He pointed, and Ron smiled nervously. "And Harry Granger." Harry didn't lift his head or make any move as if he had heard Charlus. He continued to stare at the floor, and Charlus sighed. "Have a seat everyone."

The Trio hesitated as the three Potters sat down in seats that they clearly have claimed as their own. Looking between his two friends, Ron took the initiative and pulled out the chair beside James and plopped down. Hermione and Harry followed suit, Hermione sitting across from Ron, next to Dorea and Harry sitting next to Ron.

There was a moment of silence as a couple of House Elves placed dishes of food on the table, only broken by Dorea's, "Thank you." and the House Elves high pitched, "You're welcome, Miss."

The table lapsed into silence once more, and no one wanted to be the first to get food. Looking at the apprehensive faces of his guests, James sighed and reached for the platter, taking two sandwiches and plopping them on his plate. He turned to Ron.

"So, Ron. D'ya like Quidditch?"

Ron's eyes lit up, and Harry and Hermione shared a grin as he launched into an in depth explanation of why, as he believed, Quidditch was the greatest sport known to Wizard kind.  
Hermione and Hary watched with smiles on their faces, as Ron flailed his arms around in a gesture that almost knocks his goblet over.

"Careful, Ronald!" Hermione admonished, laughing.

He looked over at her, and blushed a little as she steadied his goblet. "Sorry, 'Mione."

"It amazes me how you are such a good Keeper, Ron, and yet you seem to have such little control over your arms." Harry nudged Ron with a grin.

"Me! I have little control over my arms?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded. "This coming from the man who once caught a snitch in his mouth instead of with his hands like a normal Seeker?"

"Hey, in my defense, my arm was broken at the time."

"No it wasn't!" Hermione laughed. "That was the next year! This time it was your broom... malfunctioning."

"Oh yeah. Thats right, because that year it was-"

"Yeah." Ron and Hermione said.

"And then the next year..." Harry trailed off.

"Yes." Hermione's smile faded slightly.

"That git." Ron muttered

"So you play Quidditch?"

The Trio turned to look at James, who looked a little lost at the turn the conversation had taken.

"Yeah. Harry's Seeker, I'm Keeper." Ron said, smiling.

"Really? That's great!" James grinned practically from ear to ear. "Our Seeker and Keeper graduated last term! Are you any good?"

Ron snickered. "Any good."

"I don't know, Ron. Do you think we're any good?" Harry said, trying to smother his laughter.

"Maybe, Harry. I don't know." They grinned at each other, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, you two. You had better be thankful I'm not sitting next to you." She glared.

"Oh yeah? Why, what would you d-"

Harry clapped a hand over Ron's mouth and smiled at Hermione.

"Yes, 'Mione. We are very thankful."

"So... you're good?" James asked.

"In our not so humble opinions, yes." Ron grinned at James.

"Brilliant! You'll have to try out for our Quidditch team. That is... if you're going to Hogwarts." James looked over at his parents, and they seemed to be having a silent conversation.  
Finally, they turned to the children. "Yes." Charlus said. "They will be going to Hogwarts."

James smiled at the Trio, and his mother spoke.

"They will be going, because we decided to adopt them."

"What?" All four of them shouted.

"That is, if you want." Charlus amended quickly. The Trio stared at them, then each other. Harry looked at Hermione, a question in his eyes, and she turned to the Potters.

"Does... does this mean we will have your last name?" Her voice was hesitant, and Dorea smiled at her.

"Only if you want it, dear."

They looked back at each other, and a grin slowly formed on Harry's face.

"Harry Potter. I'm not going to lie, it does have a certain ring to it." He grinned at Ron and Hermione, who looked to be suppressing their laughter.

 

"So it is agreed then. Tomorrow, we'll go to the Ministry and make it official." Charlus smiled at the three of them.

Suddenly, a loud ringing could be heard throughout the house.

"That's the door." James explained to the Trio, as he stood up. "I'll get it."

James left the room, and the others sat in silence, hoping to hear who it was.

The door opened, and they heard James exclaim, "Padfoot!"

Harry froze, and they heard a sniffle.

"Prongs, can I," sniffle "Can I live with you?" The distinct voice of Sirius Black asked.

"Course, Pads. I mean, might be a little crowded, but of course."

"Crowded?" Sirius' voice choked out a laugh. "In your mansion?"

"Just come in. We're having lunch." James' voice got louder, and he reentered the room.

"Guys, this is Sirius Black. My best mate."

Sirius entered the room, and Harry nearly fell out of his chair. Tears tracked their way down his face, and he looked miserable. But he still looked better than the Sirius Harry knew, and was more reminiscent of the one he met through the Resurrection Stone.

"Oh." Sirius said, and wiped his hand over his face, attempting the rid himself of the tears. "Hi."

Hermione spoke, "Hi. I'm Hermione. These are my brothers, Ron and Harry." Ron waved, and Harry attempted a smile.

"My parents are adopting them." James told Sirius, who nodded. "Well, we will be right back. Just gonna go put Sirius' stuff up in his room."

"Alright." Dorea smiled. "It's good to see you, Sirius."

"You too, Mrs. Potter."

"Sirius."

He sighed, and a small smile came over his face. "You too... Mum."

She smiled back at him, and they left the room.

"Did he say his name was... Black?" Hermione asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

Charlus' face hardened. "Yes, Hermione, he did. Now, let us finish lunch and we'll set you up in your rooms."  
\----------------------------  
"Wow..." Ron breathed in awe. Charlus had just opened the door to what was to be Ron's room. Harry was pretty sure it was bigger than the family room at the Burrow.

"Cool, isn't it? Harry, your room is the next door down, and Hermione, yours in across the hall." He smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Thank you so much Mr. Potter. You can't know what this means to us." Hermione smiled up at him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He ruffled Harry's hair and walked back down the hall. He paused at the stairs. "Oh, by the way. Dinner is at seven. I'll send a house elf up in case you fall asleep."  
The Trio smiled and he left, strolling down the stairs.

Once he was gone, the smile on Ron's face melted and he said, "Hurry, get in here, both of you." Pushing them through the door way and into his bedroom.

"Ron, what is wrong with you?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Hermione. We can't be adopted. I can't be related to you. That'd be disgusting."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me? Being related to me would be disgusting, Ronald Weasley?"

His ears turned red, but he didn't back down. "Hermione, you'd be my sister. I can't be related to you, because I love you and it is wrong to love your sister this way."

Hermione paused for a moment, unsure, but then she rolled her eyes. "Honestly Ron. We wouldn't actually be related. It's a pure technicality."

"Everyone would think your my sister. I don't know about you, but I'm not very into incest."

"Ron, can you even hear what I'm saying? We wouldn't actually be related." Hermione repeated.

"Hermione, you really don't know much about Wizarding adoptions, do you?" Harry asked.

"No, I can't say I do. But they can't be all that different from Muggle adoptions, can they?" She asked.

"They are very different. Muggle adoptions are all legally binding, whereas Magical adoptions are also legally binding, they also bond your blood and soul." Harry looked at the two very taken aback faces, and kind of wished he hadn't said anything.

"How do you know so much about Magical Adoptions, Harry?" Ron asked, tilting his head in confusion.

He blushed. "Oh, um. Well, I sort of researched it a lot after Third year, because if Sirius' name were ever to be cleared, I very much wanted to be his son, and not just his ward."

"Oh Harry!" Hermione got up and threw her arms around him. Harry looked at Ron over his shoulder, and pretended to sigh dramatically. Ron grinned and Hermione pulled back.

"So, what? We've already agreed to let them adopt us. Do we just go up to them and be all, 'Oh no, sorry, changed our minds, thanks for the food.' and leave?" Ron asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to respond, but Harry cut through her.

"We could tell them the truth."

Ron and Hermione both turned to stare at Harry, mouths open, eyes wide.

"Harry..." Hermione started.

"Not like my parents, or the other Marauders or anyone. Just Charlus and Dorea. They did let three strange kids into their home, and offered to adopt them. I feel like they have a right to know." Harry looked at his friends, eyes pleading. "Please? I just really hate lying to the only people who have helped us, with no ulterior motives."

"Harry, I know they're your grandparents, but I really don't think we can trust anyone with this. Don't you agree, Ron?" She turned to him, her face set and all but forcing him to agree with her. Ron looked hesitant.

"I don't know, Hermione... Dorea and Charlus have been good to us so far, and I don't see any reason for them to not keep the secret. And besides, this whole going back thing was Harry's idea. First and foremost, its his family we are here to save. I think we should let him make the decision." Ron shrugged, and Harry threw him a grateful look.

"Ron, we aren't just here to save Harry's family." Hermione looked confused, and she put a hand on Ron's arm. "We're here to save yours, too. To save Fred."

Ron put his hand over Hermione's. "'Mione, Fred isn't even alive yet. He won't be, not for another couple of years. Right now, it's Harry's family we have to deal with. Have to protect. Because really, if   
James and Lily Potter hadn't died, and Harry hadn't defeated Voldemort that night, if he was defeated long before that... There are a lot of lives we could save. Not just those related to us."  
Harry walked over and put his hand on Ron's shoulder and smiled at him. "You're right, Ron. This is bigger than just us. It always has been. If you guys don't think I should tell them, that it might jeopardized the war effort, I won't do it."

Ron looked at Hermione, and some sort of exchange happened, because she sighed, and said, "Actually, Harry. Letting them know who we really are could actually help us. We know a lot about this war that they don't, but they have access to a lot of things we couldn't get into without arousing suspicion. I think we should tell them."

"Preferably not where James and Sirius can hear." Ron added.

Harry grinned at the two of them. "Thanks guys. I'm really glad you forced me to bring you."

"Where would you be without us?" Ron grinned, shoving Harry's shoulder.

"Probably strangled to death by that Devil's Snare First Year."

"Are you kidding? You wouldn't have even known there was a trapdoor there if it wasn't for me." Hermione sat back down on the bed, dragging the boys with her.

"No, I would have gotten that. But only because I would've gone back to investigate. Really, it was just fear of you, Hermione, going off and telling a teacher we had been in the Forbidden Third Floor Corridor, that I didn't." Harry fell back, his feet dangling off the edge of the bed.

Ron fell beside him, and put his arms behind his head. "Yeah, and me. There was no way you would've gotten me to go near Fluffy a second time, in a non life or death situation. Just to check things out? Not a chance."

"Oh come on. Fluffy wasn't that bad." Harry nudged Ron, laughing.

"Harry! He was a giant three headed dog who wanted to eat me. I had every right to be afraid of the thing. Not that bad." He scoffed, indignantly.

"You two are ridiculous. You would never even have known what was being protected, if I hadn't checked out that book for some 'Light Reading'. Honestly, I only said that to make myself sound impressive." Hermione laughed, pushing Ron over, and laying between them, pillowing her head on Ron's stomach and her legs thrown across Harry. "Really, I thought if I didn't work hard and be as smart as I could be, you two wouldn't want to be my friends."

"The whole, 'Smarter Than You' thing did come in handy sometimes. But after The Troll Incident, it wouldn't have mattered how smart you were. You were our friend, and we were determined to keep you. Also, Ron had a huge crush on you."

"Harry!" Ron cried, covering his face with his hands.

Harry and Hermione laughed. "Oh come on, Ron. It's not like she doesn't know you like her by now."

"I don't know, Harry. His proclamation of love earlier left me little skeptical." Hermione reached up and poked Ron on the cheek. 

Ron pushed her hand away. "Oh get away from me, both of you." 

They both erupted into peels of laughter, and Ron couldn't help but join them, even though his ears were fiery red.

They don't really know how long they had lain there, laughing, when someone knocked on the door. Attempting to stifle his laughter, Harry called out, "Come in!"

It was James. He looked slightly taken aback at the jumble of limbs on the bed, and their red from laughing faces. "Uh, hi."

Still giggling slightly, Hermione sat up. "Hi, James. How, um, are you?" Ron sat up and poked her in the middle of her back, and she stifled a laugh.

"I'm, uh, good?" He looked really confused.

"That's great." Hermione said, with a lot of feeling. Harry and Ron snickered on either side of her. "Oh be quiet, the both of you." She grinned.

"Uh, yeah. Well, Mum and Dad were going to send a House Elf, but I was coming up to get Sirius, so I said I'd tell you." He paused for a moment, looking at the three of them, before he seemed to realize he hadn't actually told them anything. "Oh! Right, dinner is ready."

"Smooth, Prongs." Sirius' voice came from the hallway, behind James.

"Oi, shut it, Padfoot. Like you could do any better." James turned and rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"D'you want to bet?"

"A Galleon."

"Hmm, seventeen Sickles."

"That is a Galleon, you Knut." 

"Eh, I like Sickles better." Sirius shrugged.

"Fine. Seventeen Sickles." James turned back to the Trio. "Please resume previous positions, and state of hilarity."

They stared at him, and he sighed. "Please?"

Ron shrugged, and laid back down. Harry and Hermione followed suit.

"Thank you. Now, we're going to close the door and wait for you to begin laughing." Sirius said, and James nodded, pulling the door shut.

The Trio looked at each other, and tried to think of something to make them laugh.

"Oh!" Ron said, and he started to chuckle. "Third Year. When 'Mione punched the Ferret."

Harry started to crack up. "Or, Fourth Year, The Amazing Bouncing Ferret."

Hermione started to giggle uncontrollably. "Have a Very Harry Christmas."

That set them off, and by the time Sirius knocked, they were gasping for air.

"Come in!"

"Oi, you lot. Mum said dinner is ready, and if you're not down in five minutes, you don't get to eat." He grinned, and held his hand out to James. "Pay up."

"Not yet, you haven't even consulted the judges." He turned to the Trio. "Well?"

Hermione sat up, again. "I wouldn't say it was better. It was just shorter, and more to the point, also slightly threatening..." She trailed off and looked at Harry and Ron.

"It was better." Ron said.

"Definitely." Harry agreed.

"Ha! Eat Wormtail, Prongs!" Sirius boasted.

"I don't want to eat Wormtail, Padfoot, that's disgusting."

"I don't understand how you're an Herbivore."

"Me either." James shrugged. "Anyway, let's eat."

The Trio started to get up, but Sirius held out a hand. "Hold on. You haven't given me my winnings, Prognsie boy."

James rolled his eyes. "I don't carry around seventeen Sickles in my pocket, ever, let alone at home, Padfoot. I'll give it to you after dinner. It's not like I'm hoping you'll forget. I've been down that road. Not likely to travel down it again."

Sirius grinned. "But that was such a fun road." 

"Maybe for you and Moony. Not for me or Wormtail." James shook his head. "Come on, you lot. Let's go eat."  
\----------------------  
Dinner was fantastic, not that they'd expected any less. House Elves are notoriously good cooks.

"Dinner was amazing, Mrs. Potter." Hermione said as they got up from the table and moved toward the sitting room.

"Oh, well thank you, Hermione, but your praise is mislaid. The House Elves made it all, I myself being a rather horrendous cook. Charlus here is really the only one in the family who can cook." Dorea smiled at her husband, and sat down in a large squashy armchair by the fireplace.

"Only with years of practice my dear." He smiled back at her. "I do enjoy it though. Pity the House Elves don't like me in their kitchen. They believe I'll mess everything up."

"Well there was that one time I tried to make tea, Dad." James nudged his father. "I don't think they like anyone in the kitchen after that disaster."

Charlus chuckled. "You're probably right, James. Now, who wants to play me in a game of chess?"

Ron's eyes lit up, and James sighed. "I'd be careful if I were you, Ron. He's a master."

Ron smirked. "Oh, I bet I can take him."

James patted him on the shoulder. "You think that now. Remus thought he was good at chess too, then he played my father." Ron looked at him, searching for any hint of a joke on his face. There was none, and his smile grew. He hadn't been challenged in a chess match for years.

"Your funeral, mate." James clapped him on the back and turned to his parents. "Sirius and I have some letters to write, so we might be back down, and we might not."

"Depends on how long James decides to make his letter to Evans." Sirius snickered.

"Oi, who said I was writing to Evans?"

"That look on your face. I can just see the letter now." He closed his eyes and started inching towards the doorway, arms waving in a flourish before him. "Oh my dear sweet Lily Flower, it has been far too long since I have seen your iridesecent eyes, or smelled your lovely lemon shampoo very creepily from the desk behind you." James' face was turning bright red, and Sirius smirked as he continued. "Oh Lily, I don't know how we always spend these summers apart, how I miss your hexes and stalking you in the corridors. My day is never complete until you curse me into the hospital wi-" He cut off with a yelp as James swung at him. He sprinted out of the room, cackling.

James followed him, shouting, "Padfoot, I'm going to kill you and then light you on fire!"

The Trio watched amusedly from the couch, and the Potters just shook their heads.

"Does that happen a lot?" Harry asked.

"Every time Sirius comes over." Charlus shook his head. "Anyway, what about that chess match, eh Ron?"

Ron grinned. "Definetly."

"Actually, there is something we wanted to talk to you about." Hermione started, looking at Harry. He pulled out his wand.

"D'you mind if I cast some privacy wards? Just in case James and Sirius come back down?"

Charlus and Dorea exchanged looks. She shrugged and he looked back at Harry. "I suppose you can, but it would probably work better if I do it, seeing as you're not full trained..." He trailed off as Harry lifted his wand and made a complicated movement with it, before lowering his arm.

"There. Now we will be alerted if they decide to come back down, and they wont be able to hear anything, or feel the ward so they won't be alerted to it and try to break through it." Harry said, leaving dumbfounded looks on the Potter's faces.

Ron looked curious. "When'd you learn that one?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know, sometime between the Ministry and the Second."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Obviously. When else would you have needed it?"

"How do you know that spell?"

All three of them turned to Charlus, slightly shocked because they had momentarily forgotten he was there.

"How do you know that spell?" Charlus repeated. "That spell is only taught in the last week of Auror training and is a closely guarded secret. How do you know it?"

"Where we're from, we've had connections with some Senior Aurors, and they gave us the information in a life or death situation." Harry explained calmly.

"Where you're from? Life or death situations? You're untrained, fifteen year old, Muggleborns, you shouldn't be able to cast that spell at all, let alone wordlessly." Charlus brought his hand to the handle of his wand where it was tucked in his waist band. "Who are you?"

Harry glanced at the others and they nodded encouragingly. He took a deep breath.

"My name." He swallowed. "My name is Harry Potter." He looked straight into Charlus eyes and said, "I'm your grandson."


	4. Of Nightmares and Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Images flashed by, and snippets of sound reached his ears before the scene settled.
> 
> James and Sirius were standing with their wands out, pointing them at a teenage Snape, who was laying prone on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is late, loves. I had a long day yesterday and really didn't feel like editing this.  
> But it's up now and that is all that matters, right?  
> Well. Enjoy chapter three.

MYM(L) Ch3  
\-----------------

Charlus stared at him a moment, before shaking his head. "No. No that's not possible."

Hermione stepped up to him. "But it is Mr. Potter. Look at him. He's a near carbon copy of James. Even you mistook him for your son when you first saw him. The only thing really different about them is-"

"His eyes." Ron said. "Harry has his mother's eyes."

"As everyone I met so liked to remind me." He smiled sadly.

"Who is your mother?" Dorea asked, a curious gleam in her eyes.

Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione. "Oh, um, Lily Evans."

Dorea's eyebrows shot up. "That girl Sirius was just teasing James about?"

Harry grinned. "The one and only."

"If you really are my grandson, you'll know my middle name." Charlus said abruptly. Dorea looked reprovingly at her hunband. Ron and Hermione looked uneasily over at Harry, who was smiling sadly.

"I'm sorry. I can't prove who I am that way."

"Why the bloody hell not?"

"Charlus!" Dorea admonished.

"What, Dorea? I ask him to prove who he is in a simple way and he tells me he can't do it. I'd like to know why." He stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest, attempting to appear more menacing.

"Because." Harry said, a hard look in his eyes. "Because my entire family was killed before I turned two years old." He looked down at the floor. "I never had the chance to learn your middle name."

The two Potters stood in stunned silence, and Harry felt the need to continue speaking.

"I mean, I do know somethings. I could tell you James' middle name. Or Sirius' or Remus'. Peter... I couldn't tell you Peter's middle name, not that I'd want to. I can tell you their birthdays, their hobbies. I could tell you what type of wood and core their wands have. But, I can't tell you your middle name." He looked back to the floor, and Hermione patted his arm.

They stood in silence for another couple of minutes, before Dorea broke it.

"If what your saying is true, and you really are from the future, why didn't you just tell us? Why lie?" She tilted her head, trying to catch Harry's gaze.

"We didn't think you'd believe us if we just told you, 'Oh my name is Hermione Granger and these are my best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.' You would've though us batty, and had us commited." Hermione said.

"I see." Dorea muttered to herself.

"Are you saying you believe him? You really think this boy is our grandson?" Charlus asked her, incredulously.

"Why not? Why would they lie about this?" Dorea asked her husband, standing up.

"I dont know, maybe because they're Death Eaters trying to infiltrate our home." Charlus spat.

"What?"

Charlus turned to Harry, who had a dangerous look on his face.

He looked him in the eye and stepped closer. "You are a Death Eater."

"Oh no." Hermione mumbled.

"Here we go." Ron said.

"I'm a Death Eater? Me?" Harry pointed to himself, and stepped closer to Charlus so they were face to face. "Why would I follow the man who single handedly slaughtered every member of my family? Why would I follow the man who made it his personal mission to kill me? The man who waited until I had formed another family bond, and then killed them too. The man who gave me this scar." Harry pushed his hair off his forehead, and the Potters gazed at the lightning both shaped mark there. "This scar." He pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal another jagged lightning bolt on his chest. "And this one, and this one, and this one." He held up his left hand, 'I must not tell lies', pulled down his left sleeve, the cut from the Graveyard. Harry put both hands on either side of his head, and looking into the Potter's eyes.

They gasped as horror after horror flashed through their minds. Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell's head. The Basalisk stabbing it's fang through Harry's arm. Dementor's surrounding them.

Cedric Diggory's body falling. Sirius falling through the Veil.

Dorea gasped and covered her mouth.

Dumbledore falling from the Astronamy Tower.

"No..." Charlus whispered.

Spells flying, corridors crashing, people screaming. Voldemort's face mouthing those fateful words, and a streak of green flying toward Harry. Another flash of green, and James falls to the ground.

"No!" Dorea had tears pouring from her eyes, and Charlus' hands were in fists.

Lily screaming at him to not take Harry, to take her instead.

Another flash of green and she falls.

"Harry!"

He broke eye contact, and turned toward Hermione. In front of him, Dorea fell to the ground, sobbing. Charlus knelt next to her, and put his arm around her, his face white as a sheet.

"Harry." Hermione had a shocked look on her face, and Ron wasn't much different. "That was essentially torture. No matter how much you want them to understand, you can't do that. If you do that, you're like them."

Harry paled, and turned back toward the Potters. "I- I'm so sorry, I don't, I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm sorry." He pulled his wand and canceled the wards around the room, and took off toward the front door.

"Harry! Harry wait!" Hermione called after him. Ron put a hand on her shoulder and nodded toward the Potters, before running after Harry.

Hermione turned to the couple on the ground, and tried to smile. "Well. Looks like it's just us, then."

\--------------

"Harry! Harry, mate, wait up!" Ron shouted after Harry as they ran down the street.

He chased him for three blocks before Harry finally slowed to a stop.

"Harry..." Ron gasped, out of breath from the run.

Harry's body shook with suppressed sobs. "Ron, Ron, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I thought this would be a good idea, because it isn't and I cant stand the idea of becoming like them. I can't. My entire life has been built around things like this, around fighting. Some of the only people I've looked up to taught me things like, like that are okay, when they're not." He looked up at Ron, and his eyes were shining with unshed tears. "They're not, Ron."

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Harry. Listen to me." He put his hands on Harry's shoulders, and bent down to look into his eyes. "You're not like him. You could never be like him. Do you hear me? You're not like Tom, Harry. You're not. You're a better person then he could ever dream of becoming. You beat him, Harry. You're not like him."

Harry nodded feebly. "I'm not."

"Good." Ron nodded. "But you can't do that again, Harry. It's not the same war here. Things aren't as desperate here, as they were back home. You can't do anything and everything to make things go your way."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know."

"You understand?" Ron pushed.

"Yes, Ron, I understand. I'm not a child." He smiled weakly up at his friend. He pulled him in, and hugged him. "Thanks, Ron."

Ron smiled and patted Harry on the back. "No problem. What are friends for?" He said, pulling back.

"Bad jokes, and an extra wand?" Harry grinned at Ron.

"Oh ha ha. You're one to talk about bad jokes." He shoved him, and started walking. "C'mon, we'd better get back. Don't want Hermione to think we got into a duel or anything."

\----------------------

"Did you just see that?"

James looked up from the parchment he was writing on to raise an eyebrow at Sirius. "See what?"

"It was Harry. He just took off down the street and Ron chased after him, shouting." He looked over at James, eyebrows furrowed. "Do you think somethings happened?"

James shrugged and stood. "Only one way to find out." He walked over to his bed and shoved his hand under the matress, pulling out something silvery.

"The Cloak? Why not just ask? Surely they'd tell us?" Sirius questioned.

"Padfoot, my old pal. You've only been living here the day, so I'll excuse this mistake. My parents will not reveal anything they think could be potentially harmful to me, or in this case you." He smirked at his friend. "So, we eavesdrop."

\---------------------

The two Marauder's snuck down the stairs hidden under James' Invisibility Cloak, listening for any sign of what could be going on.

All they heard was Hermione.

"Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over him, he doesn't normally do this. And, well, if he does, it's to Them. Death Eaters." She paused for a moment and they heard a sniffle. "I think he just wanted you to believe him so badly, he just used any means he could think of to make it happen. He's never had a family he could really call his own, besides Ron and me. Not since Sirius died."

Sirius gasped quietly under the Cloak, and James turned to him with wide eyes.

"Did you hear that?" They heard Hermione say.

Footsteps sounded towards the two and they ran quickly but quietly up the stairs.

Panting back in James' bedroom, they tore off the Cloak, and looked at each other.

"Since Sirius died?" James questioned his friend.

Sirius looked just as clueless as James felt.

\---------------------

"Hermione, do you think you could tell us more? About your time that is." Dorea looked hopeful, but Hermione shook her head.

"Even if I could, Mrs. Potter, it wouldn't be my place. If you want to know anything, Harry is the one to ask. After all, it is his family we're here to save." Hermione smiled sadly at the two Potters, and opened her mouth to say something else, when the door creaked open.

Ron walked in and right up to Hermione, while Harry slunk in slowly, avoiding eye contact.

"Nice of you to join us, boys." Hermione smirked at the two of them, before her gaze zeroed in on Harry.

He felt her gaze burning into the top of his head, so he lifted his eyes, and looked at her beseechingly. She smiled and shook her head. He sighed and turned to the Potters.

"Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter," He inclined his head to each in turn. "I would like to apologize for my actions earlier, they were uncalled for, and I am ashamed at the measures I took, attempting to help you understand." He looked up at each of them, his green eyes pained and lost. "Things back in our time were desperate. We used any means we could to achieve our ends. Sometimes... the ways we used were not always right. We did whatever it took to get what we needed to take them down. Some will they they aren't ashamed of the things they did to protect and save the ones they loved. I am not one of those people." He looked back to the floor, studying the grain of the wooden planks. "I do things I am not proud in the name of saving the Wizarding World. Things I would never do normally. Questionably legal things."

Here Ron snorted, and a small smile emerged on Harry's face.

"Okay, well, a lot of them definitely were not legal. But we did what we had to, to win. Now though..." He looked over at Hermione, and she smiled. "Now, things aren't as desperate as they were then. I have no excuse for doing those things to you, and I am so completely sorry, and I understand if you don't want us living here anymore." He stepped back, and stood next to Ron, who nodded resolutely.

There was a long moment of silence, and the Trio exchanged looks. The two Potters were just standing there, watching them, and it was making them feel a little uncomfortable. Suddenly, a grin spread across Charlus' face and he started laughing. The Trio looked at each other, alarmed, but Dorea just shook her head, and slapped her husband on the shoulder.

"Don't torture the children like that, Charlus."

"I'm sorry, love. It was just rather funny. They actually thought we were going to kick them out." He grinned at the Trio.

Ron looked stunned. "You're letting us stay?"

"Well we couldn't very well throw our grandson and his friends out on the street, could we?" Dorea smiled softly. They were speechless.

"I also must apologize, Harry. I shouldn't have called you a Death Eater, when from the moment I looked into your eyes I knew you weren't one. I am not stupid. I wouldn't have let you into my home if I thought you were one of them. For that, I am sorry." Charlus said, inclining his head.

Harry smiled. "Thank you, sir. That means a lot."

Charlus clapped his hands together, making them all jump. "Alright, well! It's about time for bed, wouldn't you say so, dear?" He smiled at his wife.

"Yes, I would. Alright you three. Off to bed. We will discuss this more in the morning, after the boys get here."

"Boys?" Hermione asked, confused. She thought all the boys who would be here were already here.

"Why yes. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew will be joining us for the rest of the summer." She smiled, and her husband took her hand. "We will see you in the morning then."

They left the Trio staring at each other.

\-----------------------------------------------

"Goodnight." Harry smiled at the others from his doorway, and Hermione hugged him before going into her own room, and shutting the door.

"We'll be here if you need anything, mate." Ron clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Ron." Harry watched as he retreated to his room, before closing the door to his own and falling back against it. This day had been more draining than he had expected it to be. First meeting his grandparents, then his father, then wanting to be adopted, then confessing who they really are and the panic when he thought they were going to be kicked out. Harry shook his head, and walked toward the bathroom, intending to get ready for bed before he realized.

He hadn't brought a single thing with him from home. He didn't have his trunk, none of his clothes, or books or anything meaning anything to him besides his wand and Invisibility Cloak. He walked back to his door, and opened it, intending to go ask Hermione if she still had her beaded bag, when she walked out of her room in a nightgown.

"Er, Hermione?"

She jumped and slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her shriek as she looked over at Harry, eyes wide.

"Harry! Don't do that!" She reprimanded him.

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, 'Mione. Where'd you get the nightgown?" He didn't think she had any of those in her bag, because they could've impeded her movements if they had to pack up quickly, and she almost always slept in her day clothes.

Hermione smiled slightly. "Did you even look for anything in your room before you asked me?"

Harry looked at the floor and shrugged, and Hermione laughed.

"Of course you didn't. Well, there are two solutions. One, you could look in the giant wardrobe in your room and wear the night clothes in there, which is what I did, or you could be a wizard and transfigure what you are currently wearing into sleep wear. I would recommend the first option." She smiled and started toward the stairs.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Just to get a glass of water from the kitchen." Hermione kept walking and Harry ran to catch up with her.

"I'll go with you."

"Harry, really, you don't have to go everywhere with me, I'll be fine."

"You know you could just call a House Elf and they could bring you one. You don't have to go down to the kitchen." Harry nudged her shoulder with his.

"Yes, I know, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Besides, I don't know any of their names." She nudged him back, and the treked down the stairs, toward the vast kitchen.

"Whoa." They breathed once they entered. This kitchen was more impressive than the ones at Hogwarts, though nowhere near as large. It was just extremely fancy. High, arched ceiling, white marble floors and counter tops, and small House Elves scurrying around.

Hermione's face lit up when she saw them. "Oh! Hello there!"

They all stopped when they were doing and looked at her for a moment, before one came forward.

"Hello, Miss. Hello Mister. How can Tibby help yous today?"

Harry grinned. "Hi, Tibby. My name's Harry, and this is Hermione. We were wondering if we could have a glass of water? If it wouldn't be too much trouble."

The small Elf beamed. "Of course nots, Mister Harry! We would be happy to get yous a glass of waters!" Two other Elves scurried up, each with a large, crystal glass of water in hand. They gave them to Harry and Hermione, who thanked them.

"It is no problems, Mister and Miss! We is happy to help."

"Well, thank you anyway." Hermione smiled. "We must be off to bed now, but we will see you all tomorrow."

The House Elves all beamed and chorused their goodnight wishes.

Hermione and Harry left the kitchen, and started up the stairs to their rooms.

"They look really happy and cared for, Harry." Hermione sighed happily.

Harry glanced at her with a small smile. "And did you expect anything different? They are my family after all, 'Mione."

"Oh and they're so wonderful, I'm so happy for you, Harry" She paused halfway up the staircase and pulled him into a hug. "You deserve nothing less."

Harry blushed and buried his face in Hermione's shoulder. "Thanks, Hermione. That means a lot."

She pulled back and rested her hands on either side of his face, small smile on her face. Her eyes were sad when she said, "I'm happy you get this chance, Harry. I wish we could've done this sooner, but I know we didn't have the right information. I just wish none of what happened to you happened to you." She took her hands from his face to wipe her eyes. Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to him.

"Hermione, I'm glad those things happened to me. If they hadn't, I don't think we would be as close as we all are. And I don't know what I would do without you or Ron." Hermione laughed against his shoulder, and Harry kissed the top of her head.

"C'mon. Let's go to bed."

\----------------------------

"Goodnight."

Harry closed his door, and walked over to the enormous wardrobe in his room. He pulled open the door and saw a single pair of pajamas sitting on the shelf. Laughing slightly to himself, he pulled them down and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

As he brushed his teeth and pulled on his pajamas, Harry couldn't get over what Hermione said on the stairs.

'You deserve nothing less.'

'Wish none of what happened to you happened to you.'

This got him thinking of all the things that had happened to him.

His parents being taken from him.

People constantly trying to do him in.

Everyone around him constantly being in danger.

The people he loved dying right in front of him.

He shook his head. Thinking about the things that happened to him wasn't going to help him go to sleep.

Harry picked up his clothes and folded them as he walked, setting them on the chair next to the bed.

He looked at the bed warily before pulling back the covers and crawling in. He waved his wand and the candles extinguished themselves. He tucked his arm under the pillow, wand still in hand and fell

asleep.

\-----------------------------

Images flashed by, and snippets of sound reached his ears before the scene settled.

James and Sirius were standing with their wands out, pointing them at a teenage Snape, who was laying prone on the ground.

"What are you going to do about it, Snively?" James taunted. Snape lifted his head, and his eyes glowed red.

He lifted his wand, and opened his mouth to shout, "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green flew from his wand, and suddenly he was on the Astronomy Tower, and Dumbledore was falling, falling, and Bellatrix was cackling. Another flash of green, and Sirius froze, a laugh still on his face as he fell through the veil. Harry screamed and writhed in Remus' grip as he tried to follow his Godfather. He was staring through bars at his mother's back as she screamed and pleaded with someone out of his line of sight, and he was cackling, cackling. Another flash of green and her screaming stopped, and her back was replaced by the face of Lord Voldemort.

"You'll never be able to beat me again. You'll never save your family. I'm coming for you, Harry Potter."

\-------------------------------

Ron jolted up in bed, the sound of someone screaming roused him from sleep. He whipped off his blanket and grabbed his wand off the bedside table, and sprinted for his door. He yanked it open the same time as Hermione, and they both looked at each other for a moment before dashing to the door to Harry's room, pulling it open and sprint inside.

He lay on his bed, tangled in his sheets, his wand clutched in his fist, screaming.

Ron dropped his wand and raced to the bedside. "Harry. Harry, wake up."

He continued to thrash and scream, and Hermione went to the other side of the bed and took Harry's hand. "Harry, please, please wake up."

\-------------------------------

Screaming hit his ears as he sat up in bed, and he ran to get Sirius. He made it to his door across the hall and was reaching for the handle when it open and Sirius ran straight into him and they knocked foreheads.

"Oi, Prongs! Watch it." He rubbed his forehead as another round of screaming broke loose. "You hear that too, right? It's not just me?"

"I hear it. Who do you reckon it is?" James asked as they crept down the hall toward the sound.

"I bet you it's Harry. Did you see that look in his eyes? Definitely has nightmares." Sirius whispered as they passed both Ron and Hermione's wide open doors and made their way to Harry's ajar one.

"But bad enough to make him scream in his sleep? What could he have seen that is that bad?" James questioned as the screaming paused and they peered in the room.

First they saw Hermione's relieved face, which quickly melted into panic once Harry started screaming and thrashing again. They saw Ron's back, tense and hunched over his brother.

"What do you think they're about?" Hermione asked Ron.

"I don't know. Probably things that have already happened, the thrashing isn't as bad because subconsciously he knows all of it has already happened and he's mostly trying to shake himself from it." Ron said, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder and giving it a rough shake.

James and Sirius looked at each other, eyes wide.

"I've never seen him this bad before." Hermione said.

"You didn't share a room with him for seven years. That's understandable." Ron shrugged, and shook Harry again, this time saying, "Harry. Harry wake up. C'mon, Boy Who Lived, you can do this."

"Ron." Hermione's voice sounded panicked. "You don't think it could come back do you?"

Ron shook his head. "Nah, I doubt it."

He shook Harry's shoulder again, and he sat bolt upright in bed, panting.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Shh!" Ron said, glancing towards the doorway. James and Sirius quickly hid themselves and listened.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked.

There was a pause and Harry said, "As alright as I ever was. You wouldn't happen to have any dreamless sleep in your beaded bag, would you?"

"I don't know. Maybe. You're just lucky I brought it with me." Hermione said, and footsteps could be heard making their way towards the door, and James and Sirius scrambled to hide themselves. They dove into Ron's room right as Hermione bustled out of Harry's and into her's.

They looked at each other.

"What the bloody fuck was that about?"


	5. Family Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting downstairs, laughing at something Charlus was saying when the fire flared green, and a tall, lanky boy came tumbling out of the fireplace. He straightened, and the Trio came face to face with one fifteen year old Remus Lupin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is exceedingly late, and I apologize, but I am a very last minute person and the days I usually finish this on I was occupied.  
> I'm going to let you know now that I start school in a week and a half. So updates may be as sporadic as these last two. But, I'm already planning where it's going to go, and it's sequel, so never fear. I won't leave you hanging.  
> Enjoy :)

MYM(L)4  
\----------------------

Sirius paced back and froth across James' room, waiting anxiously for the other Marauders to arrive.

"You don't think they got lost do you, Prongs?"

"Calm down, Padfoot, they've been here hundreds of times. They know the flooing address. Just, sit down, will you? You're driving me up the wall." James rubbed his forehead, looking at his best friend. Sirius stopped pacing and fidgeted with his hands in the center of the room, before slowly approaching and chair and falling into it.

"Prongs, I don't know what to make of any of this. What could this kid possibly have seen that makes him have nightmares like that?" He looked pleadingly at James. "D'you think Moony would know? Moony knows everything."

James looked at his friend, and his face grew concerned. Sirius' eyes were shadowed and afraid, his hands were constantly moving, pushing through his hair, adjusting his clothes.

"Hey Padfoot?"

"Yeah?" Sirius didn't look up and continued messing with his shirt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He tried to catch the other boy's eye, concern lighting up his hazel eyes.

Sirius looked up quickly, his eyes large. "Talk about what, Prongs?" He asked, his voice evasive.

"Pads." James smiled slightly, and shook his head. "It's okay. I know you don't like talking about things like this too often, but this is a huge thing. Your parents-"

"James. You're my best mate, and I can tell you anything, you know that. But right now, I just can't talk about it. Not yet. My family just disowned me, and I don't even know how I feel about it yet. I just need to process things myself for a while,you know?" He looked at James imploringly.

 

"I understand, Sirius, I do. If it happened to me... I don't think I'd be coping nearly as well as you are right now. Just know that I'm here whenever you're up to talk about it, yeah?" He cocked his head and grinned at Sirius.

"Thanks, Prongs." He smiled slightly, and James clapped him on the back as his mother's shout echoed up the stairs.

"Boys! Remus and Peter are here!"

\--------------------------

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting downstairs, laughing at something Charlus was saying when the fire flared green, and a tall, lanky boy came tumbling out of the fireplace. He straightened, and the Trio came face to face with one fifteen year old Remus Lupin.

"Oh. Hello. You must be the Grangers." He smiled, and held out his hand. Harry grasped it and shook, his heart pounding.

"Yes. I'm Harry, this is Ron, and our sister Hermione." He took a shaky breath and smiled. "You must be... Peter?"

Remus laughed and shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm Remus, Peter should be through in a minute."

As if on cue, Peter Pettigrew rolled through the fireplace.

"You know, Sirius was right. It is more fun that way." He stood and dusted himself off, finally noticing the Trio. "Oh, hello. I'm Peter."

Heat flared up through Harry, and his hand jerked toward his pocket before Hermione caught his arm.

"It's nice to meet you, Peter. I'm Hermione." She glanced at Ron, and nudged him with her knee.

"Oh! I'm Ron." He smiled and looked between the two boys, who then turned expectantly toward Harry.

He looked up between Remus and Peter, taking a deep breath and clenching his fist. "I'm Harry."

"Nice to meet you, Harry." Peter smiled. Harry nodded and looked back to the floor, mind going a mile a minute.

What was the thing that made Peter betray his friends? When exactly did he decide to switch sides? When did he decide his life was more important to him than the lives of his friends? Looking at him now, Harry thought it couldn't have been anytime soon. Certainly not while they were still in Hogwarts. Maybe the beginnings of it, the feelings of hatred and loneliness forcing him to make a choice he wouldn't otherwise make. Looking at the Peter standing before him, he can't place him in the same mold as the small bitter man he once knew. To Harry, they weren't even the same person.

That is when he decided that no matter what, he wouldn't let Peter be lost. He wouldn't let him betray his friends for the sake of living. Because living when everyone you love is dead, well. It's not the best experience.

The door to the sitting room creaked open and Dorea walked through. She gasped lightly when she saw the two boys. "Remus! Peter! How good it is to see you again!"

They both smiled and accepted the hugs she gave them. "It's very nice to see you again, too, Mrs. Potter." Remus said, and Peter nodded.

"Why thank you, darling." She smiled at them before turning toward the staircase, and shouting, "Boys! Remus and Peter are here!"

They heard feet pounding down the stairs, and a ruffled James appeared, grinning widely. "Wormtail! Moony! So nice of you to join us."

Remus rolled his eyes, but hugged James anyway, before looking around.

"Prongs, where's Padfoot?"

James pulled back from his hugging of Peter, and darted his eyes up the staircase. Remus nodded, picked up his trunk and started climbing the stairs. Peter made to follow him, but James stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Probably not the best idea, Wormy." James winked. Peter snickered and set his trunk back down.

"You're right, Prongs. Don't want to walk in on that." Peter nudged him with his elbow, and James laughed.

"Walk in on what?" Hermione asked.

The two Marauders looked quickly over to her, looking like they quite forgot anyone else was there.

"Oh, er, well, you see-" Peter started, but James cut him off.

"Remus and Sirius are quite good friends, and sometimes it can be very awkward to walk in on one of their talks, especially when Padfoot is feeling emotional." He smiled, as if he had just explained the theory of everything.

Hermione's eyes widened in understanding, and she looked slightly put out. Ron and Harry exchanged looks, and shrugged.

James grinned at her uneasily, before turning to his mother. "So, Mum. What's for lunch?"

\----------------------------------------------

Remus walked down the hall and dropped his trunk off in front of the room that was marked as his for the week, before moving to the one across the hall with a plaque on the door that said, SIRIUS.

He knocked lightly on the door, and his fist barely made contact a second time before the door was thrown open to reveal a disheveled Sirius Black.

"Moony." He said, his voice lacking the usual enthusiasm Remus is accustomed to hearing.

"Padfoot. Are you alright?" Remus pushed past Sirius into the room and looked around. Nothing seemed broken or out of place, so that was good.

"Honestly, Moony, I'm fine." Sirius tried for a smile, but only got half way up before it fell again. He looked to the ground.

"Really, Padfoot, it's all right, you don't have to lie to me." Remus came closer and put his hands on the other boy's shoulders. "It's not as if I'd think you weak for being upset. I know they've never been your favorite people, but they are you parents, and that means something to you. Even if you don't want it to."

Sirius sniffed and looked up at Remus, his eyes full of tears. "I don't know what to do, Remus." He said, his voice breaking. "They're all I had. And now they don't want me." He took a deep, shaking breath, and let his tears fall, emotion wracking his body.

Remus pulled him into a hug and held tight. He blinked back a few tears of his own. "Shh, Pads, it'll be okay. You're not alone. They weren't all you had, because you have us. Me, Prongs, Wormtail. And we won't ever leave you, Padfoot. Okay? We're here to stay. You won't get rid of us that easily." He pulled back and forced Sirius to look him in the eye. Grey met amber, and Remus rested his forehead against Sirius'. "You won't ever be alone, Sirius. I solemnly swear."

Sirius smiled slightly, and looked up into Remus' eyes. "You're the best, you know that, Moony?"

Remus grinned. "I might've been told once or twice."

"Well, let me tell you again."

There wasn't much distance between them to close before their lips met. Remus brought his hands up to cup Sirius' face, and Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus' waist, pulling him closer. Remus hummed contently into Sirius' mouth.

They pulled apart and once again rested against the other's forehead. Sirius released a breathy laugh.

"I was right. You are the best."

\------------------------------------------

"What do you think is taking them so long?" Peter asked James across one of the many chess board set up in the sitting room.

"Honestly, Wormy, can you not think of a single thing?" James asked, moving one of his pieces forward to knock out Peter's knight.

"Can I never win?" He responded sullenly. "And yes, Prongs, I can, I just prefer not to."

"C'mon Harry! At least make an effort." They heard from across the room, where Ron and Harry were playing chess, while Hermione read her book and called out pointers.

"What's the point, Ron, if whatever I do you always beat me?" Harry whined, and the two Marauders snickered.

"Well, you're never going to get better if you don't at least try."

"Harry, I've been telling you, you need to move your rook to-"

"Hermione, I know. You've said it at least a thousand times. I just don't think it's the right move!" Harry cut her off angrily.

"You know what, maybe I won't help you anymore. Seeing as you don't take my advice anyway, what is the point?" Hermione flopped backwards in her chair, pulling her book up in front of her eyes.

"Aw, come on, 'Mione, don't be like that, I usually take your advice when it comes to chess!" Harry nodded encouragingly.

Peter and James heard her mumble something, but they couldn't make it out. Ron could though, and he burst out laughing.

"It's true, mate. You don't listen to her when it comes to anything else." He grinned at the black haired boy. "C'mon, it's still your move."

James got up and made his way over to the Trio, peering over Harry's shoulder at the board.

"Hmm. I'd take Hermione's advice, mate." He patted Harry on the shoulder and plopped down next to him, Peter crawling over quickly.

"I agree with Prongs." Peter said, after glancing at the board. James snorted.

"What do you know about chess, Wormy?"

"Probably about as much as I do." Harry murmured.

James laughed, and leaned forward to prod Harry's chess pieces. "You just have to get them to like you, then they basically do all the work."

Harry looked quickly up from the board, his face scandalized as he looked at Ron.

"No! No way! How good at chess are you really, Ronald?"

Ron smirked, and his eyes flashed with mirth. "Better than you could ever be, P-" Ron cut off suddenly, his eyes wide.

"Ronald!" Hermione reprimanded, her eyes peeking out from behind her book, wide and afraid.

"Sorry, sorry, won't happen again." Ron hunched his shoulders and gazed intently at the chess board.

James and Peter exchanged a glance, questioning the significance of Ron's utterance of the letter P. James opened his mouth to ask, but was interrupted by a loud laugh on the stairs.

"Come on, Padfoot, it's not funny!" Remus' voice floated down, infused with suppressed laughter.

"No, Moony, you come on! That was the best thing I've ever heard!" Sirius' cackling voice reached them seconds before Sirius himself came hurtling into the room, pulling a very red Remus Lupin behind him by the hand. "Moony, tell Prongs and Wormtail what you told me."

"No!" Remus exclaimed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it would make me happy?" Sirius turned to the other boy, and pouted, making his eyes large.

"Oh shove off, Padfoot, you were laughing ten seconds ago." Remus himself laughed.

"Fine, Remus. I'll tell them." Sirius said dramatically, spinning to look at the group on the ground. "Our pal Moony over here just told me the most hilarious thing." He started as if he hadn't been arguing with said person just moments before. "He said, and I quote, 'I like girls.'" Sirius grinned and them, obviously restraining his own laughter as he waited for the others to catch on.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and raised their eyebrows, clearly questioning how mad Sirius had actually gone in Azkaban, or if it was all there naturally.

James cocked an eyebrow at his friend. "Sirius, why are you laughing at our poor Remus, and his sexuality? That's just rude you know." He said in the most serious voice he could muster, a slight smirk overcoming his control.

"Yeah, Padfoot. Moony can't help who he is, you shouldn't make fun of him for it." Peter snickered.

"You're all hilarious, ha ha, lets all laugh at Sirius." Aforementioned boy said, throwing himself down in the armchair next to Hermione's, Remus moving to perch on the arm.

"Well, it is quite fun." Remus said, nudging Sirius with his elbow.

"Not you too, Moony! You're supposed to be on my side!" Sirius cried, burying his face in the arm of the chair.

"You know Sirius." Hermione started, leaning forward and putting her hand on his shoulder. "If you don't want people to pick on you, you shouldn't make it so easy."

Sirius groaned, and Ron and Harry burst out laughing. "Hermione, you sound like the twins." Ron said. "They used to say that whenever I'd get really mad at them for their pranks." He smiled sadly, and Harry patted his arm. The Marauders all looked at each other, confused. What is it with these kids?

"Prongs, this child is picking on me." Sirius mumbled into the chair.

"Honestly, Sirius, she's probably older than you, you can't call her a child." Remus said, laughing.

He sat up and glared at the other boy for a moment, before turning to Hermione. "When's your birthday then?"

She smirked slightly and said, "September nineteenth. And your's?"

"Shit." Sirius said under his breath. "Uh, I don't think I need to tell you..." He trailed off when Remus gave him a look. "Merlin, fine. November third, are you happy now, Moony?"

"Very." Remus smiled.

The was a few minutes of silence after that, only broken by Ron or Harry calling out moves to their pieces. Hermione flipped the page in her book, and Remus asked her what she was reading.

"Oh, it's just Hogwarts: A History." She said sheepishly, kicking Ron when he snorted.

"Sorry, 'Mione. But really, don't you know that book back to front by now?"

"Well that doesn't really matter, does it, Ronald?" She replied, pulling her book up to cover her face. "It's a good read, and I enjoy it."

"You read a lot?" Remus inquired.

"Oh yes. There is hardly a time you'll find me without a book in my hand." She shrugged. "Just a good way to pass the time, I suppose."

"I definitely agree. Padfoot is always trying to get me to stop, but it just feels good to lose yourself in the pages, you know?" Remus nodded.

"Exactly! Harry and Ron are always trying to get me to stop, but it's just so interesting. I really like Muggle literature, too. It's just amazing what people without magic can come up with about it, you know?" She said, eyes shining.

"Oh me too. Have you read Tolkien?"

"The Hobbit is one of the best books I have ever read." Hermione replied with fervor. "I love the way it starts off. 'In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.' It's wonderful how it's the characters in the story telling the story."

"I love that too. It makes you feel like you're sitting there listening to them tell it." Remus smiled.

"Okay, is anyone hungry, or are we just going to listen to the geeks talk all day?" Sirius asked.

"Come on, Sirius. Hermione isn't a geek." Ron said.

"Yeah, she's a nerd, get it right." Harry grinned.

"Oh, very funny." Hermione rolled her eyes, closing her book and sitting up.

"Ron, let's call it a draw." Harry said, standing up.

"Oh no. Not a chance, one more mve and I'd have had you. No, I won."

Harry sighed in defeat and turned to go to the kitchen.

"Finally, lunch. I'm starving." James muttered, helping Peter to his feet.

"James, this is your house, you could've called for lunch ages ago." Remus pointed out.

"Come on, Remus. You don't have to be such a know it all." Sirius said, slinging his arm around the other boy's shoulders.

Ron and Harry looked at each other, before turning gleefully to Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, you two are ridiculous. What am I going to do with you?"

"Don't worry, Hermione." Remus smiled, "I'll help you take care of them."

She laughed, and said, "Thank you, Remus, but it seems you have your hands quite full." Here she glanced purposefully at Sirius, who was trying to tug Remus into the kitchen faster.

"It's okay, once we get to school, Lily Evans helps quite a bit with this bunch." He said, rolling his eyes at the insistent boy next to him. "Sirius, really, you don't need me to find yourself food, just go already."

The other boy pouted and detached himself and ran after James and Peter into the kitchen.

"Lily Evans?" Hermione questioned, glancing at Harry and Ron, who both looked equal parts excited and concerned.

"Oh yes. Don't tell the boys this yet, but she's the Gryffindor Prefect this year. She owled me and told me not to tell them, because she wants to be able to surprise them by taking points." He smiled fondly.

Hermione nodded, but her brow furrowed. "Aren't there usually two prefects each year? A girl and a boy from each house?" She shook her head. "I could've sworn I read about that in Hogwarts: A History."

Remus smiled sheepishly. "There are a boy and girl from each house, yes."

Hermione gasped. "Oh Remus, congratulations!" She beamed.

"Why are we congratulating Moony?"

James, Sirius, and Peter were all standing in the doorway to the kitchen, looking confused. Hermione panicked, and turned frantically to Remus, an apology ready on her lips when his hand stopped her.

"It's alright, Hermione. They'd have found out sooner or later." He took a deep breath and turned to his friends. "I'm the Gryffindor Prefect this year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Review or visit me on my tumblr, glove23. I'm always up for your questions.


	6. Shock And Awe: Lily Evans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I thought you said there was a gate back here?" Harry asked, playing the confused Muggleborn. It wasn't hard. For all intents and purposes, he was one.  
> "I thought you said you'd been to Diagon Alley before?" James asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Here I ammm. Chapter Five, featuring everyone's favorite... all of my phrases apply to other's too. Favorite Red Head? Favorite Muggleborn? Favorite Green-eyed Hero? I just can't win.  
> Put them together and what do you get?  
> That's right.  
> Enjoy.

MYM(L)5  
\----------------------------  
The fireplace in The Leaky Cauldron roared to life, and Sirius stepped out and to the side, awaiting the next person to come through. When they did, he immediately started talking.

"I can't believe Moony didn't tell us he was a Prefect, doesn't he know all the things we can get away with now?"

James sighed, and sat down at a table. "Honestly, Padfoot. It's been two days, can't you just let it go?" He rested his head on his fist, and stared at the fireplace, willing the others to come through, right this very second.

"No, Prongs, I very well can't let it go. He withheld crucial information from us, that we could use to pull of the Opening Feast Prank!" He pounded his fist on the table with his last couple words, causing James' head to fall off his fist and hit the table.

"Oi, Padfoot!" He shouted, as the fireplace roared green and Harry fell through.

"I've come to equate that phrase with disaster, should I be afraid?" He joked, walking up to their table.

"Not anymore than usual." James groaned.

Harry nodded, and turned his attention to the fireplace, blocking out Sirius and James' voices, and waiting for Ron and Hermione to come through. He still couldn't quite believe that the two boys sitting beside him were his father and godfather. They both acted so carefree, when, Harry knew, only a few years from now disaster will strike these kind hearted children. In his time, James and Lily died before they could really experience all that life has to offer. In their years off from Hogwarts, most of them were spent in hiding, or fighting for their lives. And Sirius. In Hogwarts, he was always a hotshot, but with the biggest family issues you could find. He parents disowned him when he was fifteen. He spent his years in Hogwarts fighting to not be bunched in with his family. He spent his years after Hogwarts fighting so his family's beliefs wouldn't win out, and then twelve years after that in Azkaban, only to break out and be on the run until he died. To this day people still don't believe Sirius Black was innocent, and still shudder slightly at the name.

Remus couldn't catch a break either. During Hogwarts he felt as if no one could possibly like him because of what he is, that no one could like a monster. And then he found friends in the Marauders, only to have them later believe him to be the spy in the Order because of his disease. He spent twelve years of his adult life thinking his best friend murdered three of his other best friends. And when he finally found out the truth, everyone around him still believed what he used to, and he couldn't express his belief in Sirius without him being more shunned than he already was for being a werewolf. Then he finally found happiness in Tonks and Teddy only to have them ripped away from him like everyone else in his life.

Peter was one Harry didn't really know all that much about. He'd never made an effort to find out exactly why Peter betrayed James and Lily, mostly because anyone he could've asked wouldn't have known either. He could only make assumptions and even those were vague and unsure. Harry thought it was because Peter felt inferior to the other Marauders, and wanted to do something that made him feel powerful. But being around Peter for the past two days... now he wasn't sure. Everyone treated him like an equal, because that's what he was. The other Marauders could see that, so that's how the treated him. Harry really should know better than to base all of his assumptions about Peter on what Snape had told him of their school days.

Harry sighed. Everything was so messed up in his time, and it hurt to think about a lot of it. He shook his head to clear it. No. That was why he was there. To make it so everything in his time never happened.

"Harry!" Someone shouted and shook his shoulder. He jerked his head up to see Hermione shaking her frizzy head at him, and the rest of the boys looking at him strangely.

"You have got to stop zoning out like that. It can't be healthy." She smiled a little sadly, then turned to everyone else. "So. What are we doing today?"

James glanced uncertainly at Harry, before turning back to Hermione. "School supplies. You guys already have wands, right?" The trio nodded. "Good. Mum and Dad are getting our books. You guys chose what classes you wanted to take, right?" Harry and Ron looked at Hermione, who sighed.

"Yes. I did, since you two are useless." She smiled at the boys, as she turned and flounced out the back door.

"Have I ever mentioned how much I like her?" Sirius smirked. Remus hit him upside the head. "Oi! Moony! What was that for?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Padfoot." He followed Hermione out the door, and a grinding noise met their ears.

"Moony must've opened the gate." Peter said, nodding towards the door and going out, the others following. They entered a small courtyard, where the large brick wall was just finishing closing up again.

"I thought you said there was a gate back here?" Harry asked, playing the confused Muggleborn. It wasn't hard. For all intents and purposes, he was one.

"I thought you said you'd been to Diagon Alley before?" James asked.

Ron blanched, but Harry just smiled. "Sure, but we got in the Muggle way. We didn't even know The Leaky Cauldron existed." He shrugged, and looked around the small courtyard. "So, gate?"

"Right, yeah." James shook his head and turned to the brick wall, pulling out his wand. Harry noticed he took it from his back pocket and smirked. Mad-eye would have a fit.

James counted bricks and then tapped one with his wand, causing the wall to shift and spin, until an opening was formed in the wall, leading to a bright, bustling, Diagon Alley.

"Whoa." Harry muttered, and Ron nodded, his face equally as awed. It wasn't faked either. The last time they saw Diagon Alley, most of the shops were dark and boarded up, with propaganda plastered everywhere. Now, there were people everywhere, and none of them looked truly terrified. Sure, some were suspicious, this was still a time of war, but more than that, people were smiling and laughing. Generally enjoying their lives and being carefree.

Sirius and James exchanged smirks and nudged Harry and Ron forward. "Come on, kids. Time for our robe fittings." James said in a rather good imitation of his mother's voice.

"Wait, Prongs. Where'd Moony and Hermione go?" Peter asked.

Everyone looked around, trying to spot Hermione's bushy hair, or Remus' lanky figure.

"There." Sirius pointed to Florean Fortescue's, where Remus was consoling a crying Hermione.

"'Mione!" Harry and Ron shouted, sprinting over.

"I don't know what's wrong with her, she just started crying." Remus said helplessly, looking really concerned.

Ron pushed her hair back from her face, and Harry took her hand.

"Hermione." Ron said softly. "Hey, love, look at me." She raised her head and wiped her fingers under her eyes, sniffing. "What's wrong?"

"It's just..." She shook her head. "Everything about this place reminds me of..." She glanced at Remus. "Um, you know, home. I looked down the street, and was expecting to see Wheezes down at the end, and when it wasn't there... It just really hit me that everyone really wasn't here, and I just started crying, because what if we never see them again?" She looked between Harry and Ron, her eyes filling with tears again.

"Hey." Harry said, smiling sadly. "We will see them again, 'Mione. That's why we're here after all." His own eyes got misty and he blinked rapidly. "Even though they may not be the same as the people we once knew, but they're close enough. And isn't it worth it if they get to live long and happy lives?"

"I guess, but Harry. What about us? Why do we have to keep sacrificing our happiness for the sake of others? Why don't we get to be happy?"

Harry breathed out and wiped his hand across his eyes, noticing Ron doing the same.

"That's just the life of the heroes, Hermione.We never get to just live our lives. And come on." He smirked. "We haven't died yet."

"At least not all of us." Ron quipped, and Hermione laughed.

"Thanks, Harry, Ron. I'm glad I came with you."

The boys grinned. "So are we."

The stood up and turned back to the Marauders.

"So, are you guys... good now?" James asked uncertainly.

Hermione smiled. "Indeed we are. Now. What are we doing first?"

\----------------------------------

"Oh, if it isn't James Potter and his merry band of misfits."

They all turned toward the owner of the voice, who had just come out of Madame Malkin's. Harry had to stifle a retort, because this was definitely not Draco Malfoy coming out of the shop, and most definitely his father.

James rolled his eyes and replied, "Well, you know, at least my friends aren't Death Eaters."

Lucius Malfoy stiffened, his hand tightening around the ridiculous cane he apparently carried even back then. "You dare accuse me of such a thing, Potter?"

James opened his mouth to reply, but Remus cut across him. "No, no he does not, it was just a joke, he's been saying that to everyone lately, haven't you James?"

James rolled his eyes. He seemed to realize that this wasn't the place to start fighting people.

"Of course, I didn't mean it at all." He said in a monotone.

Malfoy flipped his hair over his shoulder and sniffed dramatically. "You better not have." He turned to strut away, and Sirius, who had obviously been restraining himself from saying something called after him, "How's it feel being married to my bint of a cousin, Malfoy?"

He froze for a moment, before slowly turning around.

"Well, as I see it, Black, she really isn't your cousin anymore, is she? Not after you've been, oh how did Cissa put it? Ah yes. Disinherited. Burned off the Black Family tree. Tossed out on the street, to live with all the other filth." Here he glanced at James and Remus, his nose wrinkling as if he smelled something foul. Sirius had his hands balled tight into fists, his knuckles white.

"Well, I really must be off." His eyes slid over to where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing. "Have fun with your little Mudblood pets."

All of the boy's faces stiffened, and all reached for their wands, but Sirius was fastest. He had his wand out and was shoot at spell at Malfoy before any of theirs were out of their pockets. His leg was jerked violently into the hair, and he was suspended by his ankle. Malfoy sneered and preformed the counter curse, dropping ungracefully to the ground.

"Is that all you've got, Black? A schoolboy prank spell?" He taunted.

A violent looking red curse flew toward Malfoy, but before it reached him, he threw up a shield, and tossed a lazy curse back. Sirius winced as it cut through the fabric of his robes, leaving a deep red gash on his arm.

"Bombarda!" He cried, battering Malfoy's shield repeatedly until the blond let it fall. "Conjunctiviti!"

"Ah!" The spell hit Malfoy, and his hands flew to his eyes, and he scowled, keeping his left eye shut. "Alright, Black. You want to play, I'll give you something to play with. Cru-"

"Expelliarmus!"

Both Sirius' and Malfoy's wands flew from their hands. They both whipped around to see one Lily Evans standing their, holding both of their wands in her hand and looking absolutely disgusted.

"I cannot believe what I am seeing here. You," She pointed to Malfoy. "Are a grown man. You're dueling a fifteen year old. Get your act together. And you." She pointed to Sirius. "Should know better. Did you honestly think you could beat him? You're not even out of school yet, Black. And you did this in a crowded, public place. Where anyone could walk between you two and get hit. Did you even consider the consequences before you pulled out your wand? You are both disgraces," she spat out, "to wizards everywhere. You're not at school. You can't duel in the corridors anymore. If you keep this up, you're going to get arrested."

Malfoy sneered at her. "Give me my wand back, Mudblood."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you'd think you'd come up with some better insults by now." She sighed, and tossed him his wand. He caught it and shoved it back in his robes, spinning on his heel and strutting away.

Sirius glared at her as she walked up, handing him his wand back. "Honestly, Evans. Do you have to interfere with everything I do?" Harry gasped slightly, and turned to Ron and Hermione, his eyes wide. Their expressions were mimicking his. Lily Evans. His mother.

"Honestly, Black. Do you have to get into a fight with every Slytherin you come across?" She rolled her eyes, disgusted. She turned to the Trio. "Hi, I'm Lily Evans. I got a letter from Professor Dumbledore, saying that we had three new students this year, and I'd have to show them around. Would I be correct in assuming it's you three?"

Hermione nodded and smiled. "You would be. Hi, I'm Hermione Granger, and these are my brothers, Ron and Harry."

"Nice to meet you. Do you know what classes you're taking, yet?"

Hermione's eyes lit up, and she launched into a detailed description of their course lists, and all she's hoping to learn. Harry turned to Ron.

"I can't believe this. All of them in the same place." He muttered. Ron nodded, looking equally as shocked.

"All of who in the same place?"

Harry and Ron whipped their heads to look at Remus, who was looking at them with his brow furrowed, confused.

"Umm...." Harry scrambled to find an explanation, when Hermione turned around and asked, "Are we ready to get our robes fitted, finally?"

"Honestly, Hermione, we were waiting on you." Ron rolled his eyes, looked exasperatedly at Harry, who smiled.

"Oh that's where I was going too, I'll go with you." Lily smiled. James looked at her, shocked.

"You're going willingly with me somewhere? This is the best day of my life." He grinned at Sirius.

"No, Potter, I wouldn't go anywhere with you, even for a thousand galleons. I'm going with Hermione." Lily shot back.

Ron turned to Harry, eyebrows raised. "Do you understand?"

Harry got the message. 'How on earth did these two get together?'

He smiled. "Not a lick."

\--------------------------------

Harry tipped the bottle back, allowing the last bit of butterbeer to trickle into his mouth before setting it down. He looked around their table in the Leaky Cauldron and smiled. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmingly happy. Everyone he loved was sitting here, at this table, alive. Living, breathing, enjoying life. Being teenagers. Almost completely carefree.

 

He loved every second of it.

Some of the people at this table, he never remembers meeting. Others, their time together was too swift and fleeting. And the last two, they have been with him through everything. He wouldn't trade them for the world.

But, Harry knew, once they get to Hogwarts, things are going to be different. He and Ron and Hermione, they're all going to have to hide their identities from two of the most accomplished Legilimens in the Wizarding World. Severus Snape may still be a teenager, but Harry has no doubts that he is as skilled as his was in the future. And as ruthless.

Then there was Dumbledore. Harry wasn't sure what to make of the old man anymore. He had never really told Harry that much about himself, it was always about Harry, Harry's past, what Harry needed to do. Never him. And then with Skeeter's book... The Life and Lies indeed. Manipulation, it seemed, was his game. The more Harry thought about it, the worse his opinion of the man he once held above all others became. He didn't know if he would be able to keep of this charade in front of the Headmaster without it being astoundingly obvious.

 

Finally, there were the people around him. It was killing him to have to hide such a big secret from them, to lie to them about everything, while gaining their trust. It didn't make him any better than Dumbledore and his 'Greater Good'. But even if he told them, they'd never believe it. Charlus and Dorea only did because Harry accosted their minds and forced them to see the truth. James and Lily... he could never do that to them. No matter how much he wanted them to understand, he didn't think he'd ever be able to do that again to an innocent person. Maybe a Death Eater. Not his parents.  
Not to forget about Sirius and Remus, two people who were more like parents to him than his ever got the chance to be. Both taken from him when he was just starting to really know them. When they had established lives, and everything around them was falling into place and them, bam. Gone. Ripped from the very world they were fighting to save.

He would be damned if he didn't do everything in his power to stop that from happening again.

"Well." Lily said, drinking the last of her gilly water. "I really should be off. It was great meeting you three." She smiled at Harry, and he felt as if his heart would explode.

Who knew this would be so emotional, and draining? Harry swore one of the times she looked at him, he almost had a heart attack.

"Bye, Lily." Hermione grinned. "It really was great meeting you." Lily smiled and shrugged, turning around and heading for the door that lead back to Muggle London, when James called her name.

"Don't I get a kiss?" He asked, smirking. "Really, we should make that tradition."

"I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last man on Earth, Potter." She snapped, pushing through the door, and out onto the street. The door swung shut just as they saw her raise her wand a the curb.

"Honestly, James. I don't know why you try anymore." Remus shook his head. "You're never going to get anywhere with her."

James sighed, and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Moony, Moony, my dear friend. I can't give up, because if I give up, how else am I going to spend the rest of my life with her?"

Sirius barked out a laugh at that and turned to the Trio. "Prongs is under the impression that he's going to marry Evans. He has been since, what? Third year? That's when he really started going after her." He shook his head, smiling fondly at the messy haired boy.

"Isn't that a little farfetched?" Hermione asked, the corner of her mouth twitching as she caught Harry's eye.

"Well, to be fair, it is James." Remus replied. "He's always been a little farfetched."

James gave him a strange look. "Moony, what does that even mean?"

"You'll get there eventually." Remus nodded encouragingly, turning back to the Trio. "Are you guys ready to go?"

Ron and Hermione nodded, and Harry smiled slightly, looking around the Leaky Cauldron one more time, before nodding to Remus.

"Great. To the floo then." He got up and strode over to the fireplace, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small drawstring bag. "Alright. You three first."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8-30-15  
> Ohh man. You all must hate me. It's been so long. It's at least been a week since my update date, so I'm sorry. Not been a very goof couple weeks. I had to cat sit, and now I know I'm not good at being alone. School started and my schedule is all kinds of messed up and I have to take a college entrance exam tomorrow in order to get it fixed (?) so. Sorry it's been so long. But at least it here.  
> On another note, I've decided to start dedicating chapters to people who review, because it just makes my day so much brighter when I see it.  
> This one goes out to InkySkies. I love you. Thank you.


	7. Home, I've heard the word before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That's really clever, Padfoot." 
> 
> "Always the tone of surprise, Moony." Sirius rolled his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive.  
> Have a chapter.  
> Almost where we need to be for the fun to begin.

MYM(L)6  
\-------------------------------  
"Come on, you lot. If we don't leave now we're gonna miss the train!" Remus called impatiently down the hallway, listening to the scramble and scrape of everyone finishing packing their trunks. Hermione was already standing next to him, her trunk resting by her feet. She had been acting strangely the past few days, ever since they got back from Diagon Alley. It was like she was afraid, or excited, or afraid to get excited. Remus didn't know what to make of it. Sometimes, he'd speak, and she'd just stare at him for a moment, as if she couldn't believe he was really there, before she answered. In fact, it was something all three of them did, as if they were completely stunned by the fact that they were alive.

Well. He knows what he's going to talk about in the first Marauders Meeting.

Harry and Ron stumbled out of their respective rooms, dragging their trunks behind them. Hermione sighed at the sight of them, and reached forward to fixed the plain black tie wrapped around Ron's neck.

"Honestly, you can't even dress yourself, I'm amazed you've made it this far in life." She quipped.

"Well, I've had you to help me, haven't I?" Ron smiled. She shook her head and turned to Harry, who was already adjusting his own tie. 

"Way ahead of you 'Mione." He grinned.

Remus sighed agained, and the Trio looked at him as he dropped his trunk and strode down the hall toward James' room, throwing open the door.

"James Potter, I swear, if you are not ready in the next two minutes, we're leaving without you."

"Merlin, Moony! Is everyone else ready? You can't be telling me Sirius is ready." James said.

"Well he is, and if you don't hurry, you won't go to Hogwarts this year!" Remus slammed the door shut and strode across the hall to Sirius' door, shouldering it open.

"Sirius Black, if you aren't ready in the next minute we're leaving without you."

The Trio snickered as Sirius said, "Merlin's Pants, Moony, don't get you knickers in a twist, I'm coming, I'm coming."

He came out of his room, dragging his trunk behind him, right before James stumbled out of his own, looking around wildly.

"Are you kidding me? Wormtail isn't even out here yet, Moony. You lied to me." He cried, wounded.

"No I didn't. You asked about Sirius, not Peter." Remus replied smugly, walking towards Peter's door and pulling it open in time for Peter to walk out.

"Oh am I the last one? Sorry all." He said sheepishly.

"Yes yes, it's fine, now can we just go already? It's almost eleven!" Remus begged.

"Keep your hair on, Remus, it's not even ten yet, we have plenty of time." James replied. Remus looked at him like he was crazy.

"Prongs, do you know how to read a clock?" He asked, pointing to the one hanging high on the wall. "They all say ten-fifty."

James chuckled. "Yes, Moony, I am aware. But my parents set all the clocks back an hour last night to make sure we all got up on time." He smiled and started dragging his trunk down the stairs, Remus spluttering indignatly behind him.

"But why wouldn't they tell me?" Remus asked, following James down the stairs, the others falling in behind them.

"Because they knew you'd wake us up and have us all ready to go with time to spare. James smiled at him. "They have faith in you, Remus, never fear."

"This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." Remus muttered, and Sirius laughed behind him.

"That's not true, Moony, remember in Third Year-"

"Sirius!" The other Marauders chorused.

"What he asked, looking bewildered. Peter jerked his head toward Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and understanding bloomed on Sirius' face.

Harry smiled slightly, amused at their attempts to hide their secrets from them. If he didn't already know what they were referring to, it would probably drive him insane trying to figure it out. Hermione stifled a giggle behind her hand, and Ron shook his head exasperatedly.

"Anyway..." Peter glanced uncertainly at Sirius, before looking to the Trio. "Are you guys excited for your first day at Hogwarts?"

Harry grinned. "So excited. We've never been to an actual school before, as you know, and just the mere thought of the sheer amount of people is amazing." Hermione nodded in agreement, clutching her trunk tighter as they entered the living room.

"We've read a lot about Hogwarts." Ron said. "Hermione here as pretty much memorized, Hogwarts: A History."

The Marauders dropped their trunks by the fireplace, and the Trio followed suit.

"I've always loved Hogwarts: A History." Remus smiled. "What's your favorite chapter?" Sirius and James groaned and threw themselves down on the couch.

Hermione tugged on a strand of her bushy hair, staring off into space, thinking. "I'm not sure. I've always loved the Chamber of Secrets chapter, because it's just so interesting to think about Slytherin hiding an entire secret chamber that only he can access? Who knows what sort of things he might've hidden down there." Hermione's voice was filled with glee at the prospect of talking over one of the great mysteries of Hogwarts, and it masked her amusement at the fact that she knew exactly what was down in the chamber.

"Oh yeah, I've heard about that. My mum told me, thirty something years ago, while they were at school, The Chamber of Secrets was supposedly opened." James nodded along to his own words, as if affirming that yes, they were indeed true.

"Apparently, someone died." Sirius said, sitting up and waving his hands around, trying to look scary, till Remus shoved his shoulder and he fell back again.

"Moony!"

"Padfoot." Remus replied, walking into the kitchen. "Good morning, Mrs. Potter, good morning Mr. Potter."

"Good morning, Remus. Is everyone awake?" Dorea asked, sipping a cup of tea.

"Sirius is already complaining, so I'd say so." Remus smiled.

"Oi! I heard that!" Sirius shouted from the living room.

"Would Mister Moony like somes breakfasts?" A small House Elf named Solie asked Remus as he sat down at the table, the tohers trickling in behind him.

"Yes, Solie, that would be lovely, thank you." He replied, and she nodded, turning to the others and relaying the question to them. They all responded positively, and she popped away.

"Solie is a... House Elf, right?" Ron asked, sounding uncertain, while nudging Hermione with his knee under the table.

"Yes, she is." Charlus answered. "Most pureblood families have them and they are usually kept as servants."

"But, after growing up in a household where Elves no longer fit to carry tea trays, had their heads chopped off and hung on the wall, made me want to take a different approach." Dorea continued.

Hermione studied the two adults with interest. Could they possibly be more potential members for S.P.E.W.?

"What did you do?" Harry asked curiously.

"Well, firstly, all of the Elves working here were not bought, or brided, or stolen, they are all here of their own free will. Some abandoned by their families, others completely new, all of those Elves want to be here." Charlus stated.

"That's right. And we want them. Not because they do the housework, but because all of them are our family. Just as much as any of you." Dorea smiled at all of the children around the table, and again, Harry felt a surge of warmth spread through him. Ron and Hermione felt it too, and while they loved it, and wanted it to keep happening, it wasn't something completely new for them. They'd been feeling it their whole lives. For Harry, he'd only felt it occasionally. Sometimes he didn't recognize it for what it was. Pure, unconditional, love.

"All of the Elves are your family?" Ron asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes indeed. We value each and every one. We love them as if they were our own children." Charlus replied, and Ron grinned at Hermione, who rolled her eyes, a small smile adorning her face.

A trio of Elves popped back in, each carrying platters full of food, sliding them up onto the table.

"Thank you, Misty, Solie, Callie." Dorea smiled, and the three Elves grinned back, before popping back to the kitchens.

"Now, eat quickly all of you. We wouldn't want to miss the train." She smiled at Remus, who blushed, piling his plate with food.

\-------------------------------------

"C'mon you lot, lets find a compartment." Sirius said, dragging his trunk onto the train.

"Sirius, we were waiting on you." Peter said.

"No excuses."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and they nodded. "Actually, we were thinking we'd find our own compartment. To really get the feel of the first train ride." He said.

"Oh." James replied, looking slightly sad, but then Sirius nudged him and gave him and look and he nodded. "Okay, that's cool. Have fun."

The Trio smiled at them, before making their way down the train.

"Well. I should be off too. Prefects meeting you know." Remus said awkwardly.

"Okay. We'll wait to start the Meeting till you get back." James smiled.

"Don't completely singe off your eyebrows playing Exploding Snap while I'm gone Sirius."

"Why don't you warn Prongs too?"

"Because he's actually good at the game."

Remus was off down the corridor before Sirius fully comprehended what he said.

"MOONY!"

\---------------------------------

"Hi, Lily."

"Hey Remus. How was the rest of your summer?" Lily Evans smiled warmly at the Marauder.

"It was good. Stayed with the Potters, got to know Ron, Harry, and Hermione some more." He smiled. "How was yours?"

"Oh, it was okay. My sister's.... engaged."

"Oh wow. That's good isn't it?" Remus was confused by the expression on her face. It was somewhere between disgusted and horrified.

"It would be, but for the man she's marrying. He's absolutely horrid." Lily tugged on a strand of her red hair. "He's an awful man, and he makes her hate me even more, what with all of his 'normal' talk.   
I can't stand him."

"I'm sorry, Lily."

"Oh it's not your fault, Remus. Besides, we have other things to worry about. Like paying attention to this meeting."

Remus laughed and turned his attention to the Head Boy and Girl, who were explaining how things were going to work this year.

"This year they are implementing the rule of no magic in the corridors." Everyone started talking at once, some outraged, others agreeing with it. Remus saw the new Slytherin Prefect smile slightly, hanging his head so his greasy black hair covered his face.

Snape.

He groaned inwardly. Great. Just what they needed.

\-------------------------------------

Sirius moaned pitifully, feeling his face, and the absence of his eyebrows. "Moony is going to kill me."

"Well yes." James grinned. "But it'll be fun to watch." 

"What'll be fun to watch?"

"Moony!" Sirius slapped his hands over his eyesbrows and smiled, trying to pretend nothing was amiss.

"You murdering Sirius." Peter said, cheerfully.

"Why..." He looked at him, and his eyes went up to his hands covering his eyebrows. "Padfoot, are you serious?"

"Yes, yes I am." He grinned, and winked. The other three groaned, and Remus sat down across from him.

"Well, now that we are all here, I'd like to call this Marauders Meeting to order." James said pompously. "First order of business, the Opening Feast prank."

"I say we make all of the candles drip House Colored glitter." Sirius immediately suggested. The other three looked at him. "What?"

"House colored glitter?" James asked.

"Yeah. Over each of the tables we make the candles drip that house's colors. I would've said wax, but that could be painful. So thats where the glitter comes in. And we make it edible, just in case it lands in people's food." Sirius smiled, and looked around the compartment. Peter was grinning, James looked thoughtful, and Remus was just staring at him, a vaguely surprised expression on his face.

"That's really clever, Padfoot." 

"Always the tone of surprise, Moony." Sirius rolled his eyes and sat back. "So? Is that a good enough Opening Feast prank for you three?"

"All in favor of House Colored Glitter?" James said.

All four of them chorused "Aye.", grinning at each other.

"Alright. Second order of business... Moony?"

Remus pulled his legs up onto the seat, and wrapped his arms around them. "I want to talk about Ron, Harry, and Hermione."

James and Sirius exchanged looks. "Okay. What about them?" James asked.

"Sometimes, when they talk to me, they kind of, I don't know, look shocked? Like they can't believe I'm in front of them? It's weird. Does that happen when they talk to you guys?" Remus inquired.

The other three looked at each other, all with identical looks of contemplation on their faces.

"Now that you mention it..." Sirius trailed off.

"They give me that look all the time." James finished. Peter nodded halfheartedly, and Remus sighed.

"It's weird, right?"

"Very strange." James agreed.

The four Marauders looked at each other, no one saying anything, until they were jerked out of their thoughts by the compartment door sliding open. It was Lily.

"Remus, we have to start patrolling the train, make sure no one kills anyone."

Remus shook himself, and threw a look at James. "See you all later, then."

\---------------------------

Ron pulled his trunk down from the rack and started to rummage through it. Harry looked on with an amused expression, and Hermione rolled her eyes, waiting by the door.

"You know, if you packed your robes near the top, you wouldn't have to search for so long." She said, pulling the door open.

"You know, if you don't go change, you're going to still be on the train when it goes back to London." Ron muttered, his head stuck in his trunk. "Ah ha!" He said, victoriously pulling out his robes.

"Go get dressed, Hermione." Harry smiled, pulling the door closed, and sliding the screen down over Hermione's scowling face.

Harry grabbed his robes off the seat, and started to pull them over his head and talk at the same time.

"This is weird. Isn't this weird?"

A muffled snort came from Ron, who's head was stuck in the sleeve of his robes. "Very weird. I didn't think I'd ever have to get my head stuck in these again."

Harry's head emerged from the neck of his robes, hair only slightly crazier than normal, and grinned at his struggling best friend. He reached over and undid the clasp, letting the robes fall open, and   
giving Ron some light. He pulled the sleeve off his head, and stuck his arm through it.

"Never tell Hermione about this."

"Why do I always walk in on you saying something like that?" Hermione asked, sliding the door open.

"The universe is out to get me." Ron said solemnly.

"I think I win on that stand point." Harry said, raising his hand. The other two looked at him, and nodded.

"That is true." Ron nudged Hermione. "And here we are, going back to the place where the universe was out to get him the most."

"Honestly, if something bad and mildly terrifying doesn't happen I don't think we'd really be at Hogwarts. The wasn't a year we went there that was normal." Hermione shrugged.

"I don't know, I think Sixth Year was fairly normal." Ron said, and Hermione and Harry looked at him.

"Ron."

"We literally dueled Death Eaters in the corridors."

"I went to Aragog's funeral."

"I dated McClaggen."

"Dumbledore died."

"Okay, alright, I get it." Ron conceded, holding his hands up in surrender. "Sixth Year sucked."

Hermione laughed and sat down next to the window, looking out. Harry and Ron sat across from her, softly debating which year was the best, when Hermione cried out.

"Look!"

She point out of the window, and getting bigger by the second, were the towers of Hogwarts. Hermione looked at the boys with tears in her eyes.

"It's Ravenclaw tower. It's there. It's standing. And look! You can see the roof of the Great Hall. It's intact." She smiled as her tears fell. "It's fine. Hogwarts is okay. It's not destroyed. It hasn't seen a war."  
Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Ron took her hand, both of them blinking rapidly.

"It's home. We've come home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had totally planned on finishing and posting this last week, but various things happened that I'd rather not get into because I've had to tell about a million people, because no one knows how to read a piece of paper.  
> THEY'RE HOOOMMMMEEEE.  
> The chapter title is from A Very Potter Sequel, the song Home. "Home, I've heard the word before, and it's never meant much more than just a thing, I've never had."   
> Dude.  
> I started chapter 7 before I finished this one, and I'm excited about it so maybe it'll be done soon.


	8. These Chairs Will Never Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, he was Harry Potter.
> 
> And Harry Potter doesn't stand by when there is a way he can help the people he loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello! I think this is the closest I have come to posting on time in a while, I deserve an award.  
> No I don't. I will when I post on time though. Get on that.  
> I honestly don't know how the first half of this chapter came about, but I think it's really cool so. Enjoy.

MYM(L)7

Harry had never felt so happy and so devastated at the same time. Here he was, walking up the steps of Hogwarts, and it was whole. People are smiling. No one can see what he sees. Their version of Hogwarts, the one before him, is untainted by the images that plague Harry.

All he can see as he walks up the steps and through the double doors, are bodies. Strewn across the lawn, clawing their way up the stairs, half hanging out of a broken window. Blood smeared across the marble of the entrance hall, rubble piled in corners, broken glass glittering on the floor. People he knew kneeling over the bodies of fallen loved ones. Heart wrenching screams.

Lavander Brown, being slowly, agonizingly lifted by Professor Trelawny and Pavarti Patil and carried into the Great Hall, blood still dripping from the gaping wound in her neck. Broken sobs as Fred Weasley is carried in the arms of his oldest brothers, his twin gripping his arm and begging him to wake up. Percy, with tears streaming silently down his face as he trails reluctantly behind them. Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas carrying the limp body of Remus Lupin, Oliver Wood following close behind with Nymphadora Tonks, the front of her robes covered in blood. Dozens of people limping in, arms wrapped around each other for support and comfort. Professor McGonagall ushering students, former and current, to different areas, her face pale, and tears threatening to fall.

Harry didn't remember witnessing these things. He was sure they were still with Snape when all of this was happening.

So why can he remember it so vividly?

Harry felt a small brush of magical energy, so familliar, and yet he was sure nothing like this had happened before. It happened again, more forceful this time, and Harry was knocked off his feet. He tumbled to the ground, a number of hands reaching out to stop his fall, but none of them making it in time, and he crashed to the floor.

A chorus of, "Harry are you alright?" erupted around him, but his vision was blurry. He reached up and felt his glasses on his face, confusing him.

Why can't he see?

A sudden jolt went through his body, and suddenly, he saw Hogwarts.

Of course, he saw Hogwarts before, but this was different. There weren't any students in the hall, and a few windows were still broken. Harry's eyes widened in realization. He was seeing his Hogwarts.

The reality of it was only re-enforced when Professor McGonagall came striding down the hall, a detrermined look on her face, right before she stopped, standing stunned.

"Harry?"

Her voice was shocked, confused, and concerned. She stepped toward him, and his vision shook. She must've seen something happen to him, because she stopped walking.

"Harry, can you hear me?"

"Professor. I don't know what's going on." Harry said, slowly. He felt a hand on his shoulder, but couldn't see who it belonged to.

"Harry, where are you? The three of you have been missing for weeks. We thought the worst." Her voice shook, and he understood. She thought all of those things were over, that she wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

Unfortunately, he was Harry Potter.

And Harry Potter doesn't stand by when there is a way he can help the people he loves.

"Professor, we went back. Nineteen-seventy-five." He said, the edges of his vision getting blurry. "We had to help them. I couldn't just stand back knowing there was a way to save them. I'm sorry, Professor. You know me. Undeniable hero complex." He could see other people in the corner of his eyes, and knew he was going back. "Professor, tell everyone I'm sorry. Tell Ginny-"

Suddenly his line of sight was filled with freckles and a mass of brown hair. Hermione's brown eyes were wide with concern, and Ron looked afraid.

"Honestly, mate, I thought these things had stopped." Ron said, gripping Harry's arm and helping him stand.

"Harry, are you okay? You were muttering... things." She glanced at Ron, and then at the Marauders, all of whom were looking concerned.

"I'm fine. Just got a little dizzy, that's all. I'll be fine once I eat something." He gave Hermione and Ron a significant look, and trudged after the Marauders into the Great Hall.

\----------------------------

The feast was as good as he remembered. They sat with the Marauders at the Gryffindor table, painfully stick out and subjected to many whispers. Lily sat with them, which only lead to more whispering. 

Professor Dumbledore concluded his opening speech with a simple, "Goodnight.", before swishing off in his bright purple robes. 

The Trio bade the Gryffindors farewell, and followed the Headmaster quickly.

"Professor!" Hermione called, and they jogged to keep up with the aging man.

"Ah, yes. The Grangers, I presume?" The Headmaster asked. The Trio nodded, and he turned back around and resumed walking, gesturing with his hand for them to follow.

While they walked, Harry gazed around the old, but intact corridors, marveling at the fact that he truly was in a different Hogwarts from the one he knew. The Hogwarts he called home... well. He thought back to his vision of McGonagall earlier that night, and his eyebrow creased.

What kind of magic could send him visions from the future? The future that shouldn't even exist anymore.

Dumbledore would know. Harry glanced up at the wizened headmaster, and narrowed his eyes. Dumbledore knows everything.

Even the things he shouldn't.

But Harry wasn't willing to give up his secrets just yet. Not until he was sure he could trust the man. And from the way he remembers things from his past, he's not sure he ever will again.

"Here we are. Pumpkin Pasties." Dumbledore said, smiling at the three of them. The gargoyle guarding his office nodded and sprang to the side. Harry and Ron jumped, faking their surprise. Hermione stayed still, and the boys looked at her, confused.

"You wouldn't be shocked if you opened a book every once in a while." Hermione said, lifting her nose into the air and following Dumbledore up the stairs to his office.

"You can't be telling me that is in Hogwarts: A History." Ron said dubiously.

"Indeed, Mr. Granger. It is." Professor Dumbledore said, and the tips of Ron's ears burned red.

"Oh, uh, right, then." Ron stuttered, looking at Dumbledore. Hermione looked back and smirked at Ron. Harry rolled his eyes, and finished climbing the winding staircase.

Dumbledore opened the door, gesturing that the Trio go first. They entered, and gazed wistfully around the office. The last time they had all seen it was after the Battle of Hogwarts, when Harry had come to return the Elder Wand to it's rightful owner. 

There were fewer strange silver instruments than Harry remembered, but that could be because Dumbledore hadn't acquired them yet. Not because they had changed the past that drastically by traveling to it. Harry nudged Hermione because he could tell she was thinking exactly that. She gave him a sheepish smile, as Dumbledore settled behind his desk.

"Please, have a seat." He said, indicating the chairs positioned before his desk. The Trio sat, all three suddenly very nervous. Harry kept his eyes trained on his knees, afraid Dumbledore would be suspicious if he blocked him out of his mind. Ron and Hermione had obviously had the same thought, as they were both avoiding eye contact with the Headmaster in favor of looking around the room.

"So," Dumbledore started, and Harry looked up, locking his eyes somewhere over Dumbledore's shoulder. "You three need to be Sorted."

They exchanged looks. "Um, yes Professor. We do." Hermione answered, looking slightly bewildered. He nodded and stood, retrieving the Sorting Hat from the shelf it had been placed on after the Sorting earlier.

"I assume you all know how this works by now?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes twinkling.

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir. We do."

"Well, then there is nothing to it. Miss Granger, if you would." He held the hat out in front of him, and Hermione walked over and ducked under it, fitting the hat snuggly on her head. The boys both heard her take a sharp breath, and exchanged worried looks.

They waited for five minutes, getting progressively more worried, till finally the Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" 

Hermione pulled the hat off her head, her face pale, eyes wide. She handed the hat to Ron, before sitting back down in her chair. 

"Congratulations, Miss Granger." Professor Dumbledore smiled. Hermione nodded weakly, staring at the floor. "Mr. Granger?" Ron took a deep breath and pulled the hat on to his head, his hands shaking slightly. He tensed, and his hands started to reach up, as if he was going to rip the hat off his head, but he dropped them a moment later when the hat yelled, "Gryffindor!"

Ron tugged off the hat, letting out a breath. He turned to Harry, and his freckled stood out more than usual because his face was so white. He slowly handed Harry the hat, and moved to sit next to Hermione.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Granger."

Ron nodded, "Thank you, Sir."

"And lastly, Mr. Granger, it is your turn."

Harry steeled himself as he pulled the hat down over his head, the fabric covering his eyes and darkening the world.

'Well, well. Another time traveller. I'm going to assume you all came here together, then?'

Harry stiffened. How did the hat know?

'I can see inside your head, foolish boy. Now the real question is, should I stick with the way I Sorted you before, or put you somewhere new? You have changed, you know.' The Hat almost seemed amused at the prospect of dropping him in another House. Harry panicked. He wouldn't be able to help anyone as effectively if he was in Slytherin, and really, that was the only other place he could see himself going. He wasn't studious, and he didn't really value knowledge the way Ravenclaws do. He could be considered hardworking, but never with anything school related. Maybe Quidditch. That ruled out Hufflepuff.

'Are you trying to do my job for me?' the Hat asked snarkily. Harry felt his face heat up.

'No, no, I was just pointing out all of the reasons I couldn't be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.' Harry thought.

'I already knew all those reasons, Harry Potter. I can see in your head.'

Harry almost fell over when the hat said his real name.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

'Oh, for heaven's sake. I was never going to put you in Slytherin. I made my decision about you before I was even put on your head. You traveled back in time to save the people you care about. While a Slytherin would want to save their family as much as any other, they wouldn't act as rashly as you did in coming here. They would've had a clear plan, not just rushed into it. You, Harry Potter, can be nothing but GRYFFINDOR!'

The Hat shouted his house, and Harry tore the hat off his head, releasing a large breath. He looked over at Ron and Hermione with wide eyes, and they both nodded slowly, confirming that the hat had said similar things to them.

"Well, it seems as if all of you are in Gryffindor. Much easier for me, I don't have to lead you all to different dormitories." The Headmaster smiled, and waved his hand at the chairs again. "If you would take a seat again, Mr. Granger."

Harry sat. Dumbledore calmly surveyed the three of them, before stating, "I do not know what time you three came from, and I do not want to know. I just must warn you that it was a very dangerous thing for you to come here. What ever future you came from has been destroyed. But I will tell you one more thing." Dumbledore stared at each of them in turn, his eyes no longer twinkling. "If you came here with the plan to harm my students in anyway, there will be consequences."

Ron gulped audibly, and Hermione clutched her hands tightly together.

Harry merely looked curious. "How did you know?"

Professor Dumbledore smiled softly. "Three unregistered teenagers show up in the Ministry of Magic, and somehow convince Charlus Potter to take them in? It would take a lesser man then I to figure that out."

"I told you we should've been more careful." Hermione muttered. 

"Hermione," Ron groaned. "You've been telling us that since first year, and has it made a difference yet?"

She sighed loudly. "No."

"Right." Harry looked back to Dumbledore. "So, you're not going to report us, or anything?"

Dumbledore smiled vaguely. "I suppose you all know how to get to the common room, then?"

The three looked at each other, deciding that they will never understand Albus Dumbledore.

They nodded.

"Good. I bid you goodnight, then."

\-------------------------------------

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all stood in front of the entrance to Gryffndor Tower, staring up at the Fat Lady, who was snoring loudly.

"I can't believe we forgot to ask Dumbledore for the password." Hermione moaned.

"I can't believe you forgot that, Hermione. That is so weird." Ron said.

"Maybe Lily, or Remus are still out here, and they can give it to us." Harry said hopefully.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, if anyone was going to still be out, it'd be James and Sirius."

"And the pretty lady gets the prize." A voice said from behind them. They jumped and turned around, seeing a grinning James and Sirius behind them.

"I was joking, I can't believe you two are already breaking curfew. It's the first night!" Hermione scolded. The two boys shrugged.

"We didn't get a chance to pull off our opening feast prank. It was too complicated for the short amount of time we had. So we set it up for tomorrow morning." James smirked. "And anyway, you're out of luck. We forgot to get the password off Remus earlier, so we're in the same boat as you."

"Does that mean we're camping outside the Tower?" Ron said, a look of dread coming over his face. 

Harry and Hermione exchanged tired looks. "I really just want to sleep in a bed." Harry complained.

"Never fear, young ones." Sirius winked at Hermione. "Us Marauders always have a way."

He motioned that they stand back, and everyone retreated a few steps away as Sirius cracked his knuckles. He reached forward and tugged slightly at the edge of the large frame, shaking the portrait slightly. James' face lit up, and he gestured wildly that they hide. Harry, Ron, and Hermione pressed themselves to the wall the Fat Lady's portrait was on, give James and Sirius odd looks.

Sirius tugged once more, harder this time, his eyes trained on the portrait. The Portrait shook wildly, and the Fat Lady jerked awake, looking around.

"Black! Potter! Did you forget the password again?" The Fat Lady asked scornfully, crossing her arms. James and Sirius looked up at her sheepishly. "Well, you can forget it. No password, no entry. You know the rules."

"Aw, come on." James whined, looking up at the portrait with large eyes. "Didn't you hear? Sirius got kicked out of his house for being a Gryffindor." The Fat Lady gasped slightly, looking at Sirius who had slumped his shoulders and wasn't looking at her anymore. "He just wants to be able to sleep in a place that feels like home again, ma'am."

The portrait stared at James for a long time, glancing at Sirius who still was doing his best to look like a kicked puppy.

Which, Harry knew, was true to some degree.

The Fat Lady sighed loudly and, looking around the corridor said, "This is the last time, Potter. I won't open for you again without the password." James' face lit up again, and Sirius looked up, and gave the portrait a small smile, which she returned. She swung open, revealing the familiar circular hole to the Gryffindor Common Room. James held the portrait open while Sirius waved the Trio in.

As soon as the portrait swung shut, Hermione turned to James and Sirius, absolutely astounded. "I cannot believe that actually worked."

Sirius scoffed. "Of course it worked. We have perfected the art of playing with the Fat Lady's emotions." He grinned at James. "She seems to have a lot of them for being paint on canvas."

"You do know she's a depiction of a person who sat for a portrait, right?" Hermione asked.

The boys all looked at each other, before back at Hermione.

"I never actually thought about that." Ron said.

"Now it seems rather rude that we call her The Fat Lady." Harry muttered.

James and Sirius just shrugged and moved through the nearly empty Common Room, heading for the staircase to the boy's dormitories. James stopped at the bottom, and turned back to look at the other three.

"Harry, Ron, aren't you coming?"

They both shook their heads in unison.

"We're going to wait with Hermione till someone comes that can take her to her dormitory." Harry said. "We'll find our way up later." Hermione smiled at them, and Ron flopped down in a worn red chair near the fire.

"Oh, okay." James nodded. "Third from the top, then." Harry nodded, and James followed Sirius up the staircase.

Harry and Hermione collapsed into their favorite armchairs, running their hands over the worn fabric..

"It's weird." Hermione murmured. "Everything is almost exactly the same as it was then. The chairs don't even look any different. Shouldn't they be less worn than they were?"

Ron smirked at her. "Well, they would be, if they weren't maintained by magic."

"Are they really?" Hermione asked him, eyebrows furrowing.

"Do they not tell you that in Hogwarts: A History?" Ron teased. Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. Harry grinned.

"Well, they are. It makes sense, too. Do you know how many things the twins have put on these chairs that should've harmed them, but didn't? I am almost positive they set off at least three fireworks out of this chair." Ron patted the arms of the chair fondly. "Nothing can touch them."

"Why have they always looked so worn then?" Hermione asked, warming to the idea, but not quite ready to accept it.

"So it feels more like home." Harry muttered. He looked up at Hermione. "That's one of the first things I thought when I came in here the first time. It looks warm, inviting, and homey. Makes you feel like you're a part of something, you know?"

Hermione smiled softly, gazing around the room. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Hermione Granger admitting someone else is right?" Ron grinned. "The world must be ending."

Hermione picked up a pillow a threw it at Ron, who caught it easily, laughing.

He didn't expect the second one that hit him square in the face, though.

Harry howled with laughter, and Hermione looked smug as the portrait hole closed behind Remus and Lily, returning from their rounds. Ron pulled the pillow off his face and sent Hermione his best death glare.

"Well." Lily said, causing the Trio to start and look up, to see her and Remus smirking. "It seems you three will have no trouble fitting in here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I haven't posted since the news about The Potters was released, I will say this now. I will not be changing James' parent's names in this story to what they are in canon. While I usually pride myself in sticking as close to canon as I can, this is one thing I am going to let slide by me. I love Charlus and Dorea Potter and by changing their names, to me it'd be like changing their character's all together.  
> In other stories*, perhaps I will use their given names, but for MYM(L) they will remain Charlus and Dorea. With all of the back sotry that goes along with that.
> 
> *it's gonna be great so great


	9. Hangman, Hermione!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James turned his attention to Harry. "Are you a Chudley Cannons fan, too?"
> 
> Harry let loose a startled laugh, looking over at Ron. He blushed to the roots of his hair, giving off the impression of a very ripe tomato.
> 
> "No, no, I only support teams that are actually capable of winning a match." Harry grinned, and Sirius barked out a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liiiivvvvveeeee!
> 
> I'm actually Frankenstein's Monster guys.
> 
> Fear Me.
> 
> Here's chapter 8. Hope you don't think it's too terrible.

MYM(L)8

\-----------------------------------------------

Harry woke up feeling warm and content, a feeling he hadn't felt for a while. No nightmares had interrupted his sleep. He sighed happily, sitting up and stretching lazily. He glanced around the room, noting that Neville had already left, but Dean, Seamus, and Ron were all still asleep. He smiled slightly, and grabbed his clothes, walking into the bathroom.

"Good morning, Harry." A very alive Remus Lupin said to him from in front of the sink. Harry stared at him for a moment, frozen, before he remembered.

Right. Time travel.

"Morning, Remus." Harry replied, sliding into a stall and closing the door. He leaned against it, breathing deeply. That was almost bad. He had been about to ask Remus how he was there, how he was alive. That most definitely wouldn't be a strange thing to say. Not at all.

Harry sighed, getting dressed quickly, leaving the stall to head off Ron and make sure he didn't slip up like Harry almost had.

He walked back into the dorm to see Ron standing awkwardly by his bed, James and Sirius in various stages of getting dressed staring at him, stunned. Mentally, Harry cursed.

"Uh, good morning?" Harry asked, looking back and forth between the three of them, hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.

James turned his attention to Harry. "Are you a Chudley Cannons fan, too?"

Harry let loose a startled laugh, looking over at Ron. He blushed to the roots of his hair, giving off the impression of a very ripe tomato.

"No, no, I only support teams that are actually capable of winning a match." Harry grinned, and Sirius barked out a laugh.

"Good. Your brother is delusional." James said, resuming the buttoning of his shirt.

"So I've been told." Harry smiled, looking over at Ron. "C'mon. We told Hermione we'd find our way down to breakfast together."

"Oh, Lily and I can take you." Remus said, emerging from the bathroom. He was pinning his Prefect badge to his robes. "That is our job after all."

"Oh no, it's okay. Hermione wants to have 'The Real Hogwarts Experience', which she thinks includes getting hopelessly lost the first week. Apparently it's tradition." Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"Only for Gryffindors, really." Remus replied. "The other Houses lead their First Years to the Great Hall, and then to their classes for the first week."

The other four boys stared at him as he calmly packed all his books in his schoolbag.

"Are you joking, Moony?" Sirius asked, eyes wide.

"No. Why would I be?" Remus looked up innocently, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He smiled, turned on his heel, and walked out the door.

The four remaining teenagers stood staring at the door, until a drowsy, newly awake Pete sat up and said, "Why are you all just staring at the door?"

Peter's voice seemed to jerk them out of their stupor, and James rounded on Peter. "Did you know the other Houses lead their First Years around the first week of school?" He demanded. Peter blinked groggily.

"Of course. Gryffindor Prefects don't because it's seen as a test of bravery." Peter said, swinging his legs off his bed and digging around in his trunk for his robes.

"I can't believe this." Sirius murmured Ron and Harry looked at each other a shrugged, slipping their robes on and scampering our the door and down the stairs, when and exasperated Hermione was waiting for them.

\-------------------------------------

"So how long do we have to wait before we can go eat?" Ron asked, staring at the entrance to the Great Hall, breathing in deeply the smell of food wafting out.

"At least until James, Sirius, and Peter make it down." Hermione explained, wiggling her feet in front of her from her position on the floor.

"Don't the Marauders have the Map by now?" Harry asked suddenly. He looked at Hermione. "You don't think they'd check it to see where we are, do you?"

Brown eyes met green, and Ron groaned loudly. "Does this mean we've been waiting for nothing?" Ron stood quickly, and pulled Hermione up, before grabbing Harry's arm and dragging them both to the Great Hall. He looked ready to plop down at the nearest available spot and tuck in. Hermione had other ideas. She tugged Ron away from a plate, and down the table, to where Lily and Remus sat.

"Good morning!" Lily greeted, smiling widely. Harry caught his breath as her green eyes, oh so identical to his, smiled up at him.

He would never get over the fact that this was his mother, and she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

"Good morning, Lily. Remus." Hermione said, sitting across from the other girl. Harry and Ron sat on either side of her.

"Did you sleep well?" Lily asked, pushing food around her plate.

"I haven't slept so well in ages." Hermione said, and the boys nodded along, all while piling their plates high with food.

Lily and Remus exchanged looks. "Really?" Remus asked. "Not even at Potter Manor?"

Harry snorted. "With the threat of James and Sirius breaking into our rooms and pranking us while we slept? Not likely."

"Honestly, Potter and Black are ridiculous." Lily rolled her eyes. "You were guests in Potter's home and he stilled pranked you?"

The four of them stared at her.

"You...you have met James, right?" Ron asked.

"Unfortunately." She muttered, glaring down at her plate. Harry smiled slightly, and glanced at Ron, who looked confused. He shook his head and started eating his food as James, Sirius, and Peter stumbled into the Hall, looking at the Trio.

"How did you get here so fast?" Sirius asked, throwing himself down next to Remus.

"Well, it wasn't that hard." Hermione smirked. "We just retraced our steps from last night."

"Why didn't we ever do that?" James asked Sirius, who rolled his eyes.

"You fancied yourself an adventurer, Prongs, and made us get lost." Sirius smirked at Remus. "Moony is the only reason we ever made it to breakfast or class on time." Remus shrugged.

Professor McGonagall got up from the staff table, a large stack of parchment in her hands. "Oh, good, schedules." Lily said, avoiding the way James was trying to catch her eye.

"Mister, Miss, and Mister Granger, here are your schedules. They are all the same, so you won't be completely alone when you get lost." Professor McGonagall said, shuffling through the parchment and handing the others their schedules.

"Wait." Ron said. "You mean Harry and I have the same classes as Hermione? Or does Hermione have the same classes as we do?" McGonagall looked at him for a moment, before repeating her earlier statement.

"They are all the same."

She continued down the table, as Ron gazed desperately after her. Harry quickly took his schedule from Hermione, and glanced over it. His eyebrows furrowed. It was almost exactly the same schedule he had the first time he went through Fifth Year. Except Divination was replaced with Muggle Studies.

"Remus." Sirius said, blinking at the other boy's schedule. He looked down at his bag and frowned. "You have the same classes as we do, and yet you brought all of your books. Why?"

Remus looked at Sirius and furrowed his eyebrows, and said, "Well obviously I didn't know what classes I was going to have today, so I just brought all of them."

Sirius stared at him, glancing around at James, before returning his eyes to Remus. "That's utterly ridiculous, Remus. Give me your bag, I'll take your stuff back to Gryffindor Tower and take out the things you don't need."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Sirius. I can handle carrying a few extra books around for one day. I'm not made of glass, you know." 

The look on Sirius' face begged to differ. He snatched up Remus' schedule and book bag, and hightailed it out of the Great Hall.

They all stared after him, before looking back at Remus, who shook his head and began eating his food again.

Ron turned to Harry to ask what he thought was up with that, and found him looking at his schedule oddly. 

"Hermione, you're not taking Arthimancy? Or Ancient Runes? I thought for sure you'd take those, you've always talked about them." Harry frowned at Hermione, who smiled.

"I figured it'd be easier if we were all in the same classes, and besides, I'd be horribly behind." She looked down at her plate and pushed her food around.

Ron and Harry looked at each other, slightly confused. Maybe she didn't want to draw attention to herself by coming in as a Fifth year and knowing all the coursework by heart. Maybe she just wanted more free time. Harry shook that thought out of his head. No, that couldn't be it. Hermione wouldn't know what to do with herself here, if she wasn't doing homework.

"Hermione..." Ron started, looking concerned, but she cut him off.

"We'll talk about it later, alright? Right now we have classes to find."

Lily looked up from her schedule. "No worries. We probably have the same classes today, seeing as most of them aren't electives." Remus nodded along to her words, looking over her shoulder at her schedule, as Sirius had taken his when he went to lighten his book bag.

"We'll lead you to class." He said, smiling.

"Oh." Hermione glanced at the others. "So, we don't have to leave yet?" Lily looked at her watch, frowning for a moment, before shaking her head.

"No, not for another ten minutes at least."

Hermione nodded and Harry looked over his schedule again, and groaned.

"I didn't bring the right books." He grumbled, and Ron started. He reached down to dig through his bag, and sighed.

"Me either."

"We're going to have to go back up and get the right ones." Harry dropped his head on the table.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, it'll take five minutes." Hermione shoved Harry's shoulder, standing up.

"So many stairs." Ron bemoaned, throwing his arms over his face.

"Honestly." She huffed, turning on her heal and striding out of the Great Hall.

Harry sat up abruptly. "If we don't want her rummaging through our trunks, we should go after her."

Ron stood. "Shit. We better go."

The boys raced after Hermione, Lily and Remus laughing behind them.

"Hermione! Wait up!" Ron called after her. She slowed to a stop, staring out the window. Harry and Ron caught up and slowed to a walk, but stopped completely when they passed Hermione and she didn't follow.

"Mione?" Harry asked.

"I still see them." She whispered. Ron sucked in a breath. "The bodies. Every time I look outside, every time I walk these halls. Our friends..." She took a shaky breath, and Ron surged forward, wrapping his arms around her.

"I do, too." He said quietly. "Especially... well. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to go down the Charms corridor."

Harry sighed, reaching out and wrapping his arms around both of them.

"I'm so sorry, guys." He muttered, resting his head on Hermione's shoulder.

Ron looked at him. "What are you sorry for, mate? None of what happened was your fault, Harry. Remember that."

"Yeah, but-"

"No, Harry." Hermione cut through. "Nothing that we've been through has ever been your fault. That blame lies with Voldemort. That's why we're here, Harry." Hermione looked up at him, eyes fierce. "To stop him from hurting us, and the ones we love even more."

Harry looked down and shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't tell her he still regretted bringing them along, and probably would regret it as long as he lived. Not while she was acting like this. Ready to take on the world again, to protect the ones she loved. He couldn't tell them that he knew the only reason Voldemort ever came after them, was because they were friends with him. Because Harry cared for them.

He wished they had stayed behind.

Harry pulled back, dropping his arms to his sides. "C'mon. We'll have to run if we don't want to be late."

Ron grabbed his arm. "Harry." He turned back to Ron and Hermione, a smile forced onto his face.

"It isn't your fault, Harry." Ron said softly. "It never has been and never will be, okay?"

Harry nodded, and Ron sighed. They both knew he didn't believe it, but they didn't have time to argue. They had Transfiguration first.

"Hurry." Hermione said, jogging down the corridor.

\-----------------------------------------------------

They were out of breath and five minutes late to Transfiguration, and Professor McGonagall barely spared them a glance as they slinked into three seats in the back of the room. Sirius and James were sitting in front of them, and they turned around when McGonagall looked away.

"Nice of you to join us." James whispered. "Hope you didn't get too lost."

Hermione sighed. "It wasn't so much that we got lost, as the boys forgot their books."

Harry and Ron shrugged, pulling out parchment and quills, and started taking notes on what McGonagall was lecturing about. Hermione looked mildly impressed that they were actually paying attention, and pulled out her own parchment.

They had started taking notes, until they realized McGonagall was just giving the same lecture she did at the beginning of their Fifth Year, about how she didn't take anything less than Exceeds Expectations into her NEWT course, and that any job that actually meant something required a NEWT in Transfiguration.

Instead of copying down things they had already heard at least twelve times, they started writing notes.

Ron: Does H actually believe we are taking notes in a class we've already taken and passed?

Harry: I think she likes to give us the benefit of the doubt.

Ron: You know, I think what McGonagall is saying is actually different from before.

Harry: Really? Well, we can look at H's notes later.

Ron: Too right. Want to play hangman? 

The two boys spent the rest of the class trying not to laugh as they figured out each others words. Hermione kept giving them sidelong glances and as soon as McGonagall dismissed them, she snatched the parchment from Ron and huffed.

"Do you two ever pay attention?" Ron and Harry simultaneously shook their heads no.

"Not if we can help it." Harry said.

"That's what we have you for, 'Mione." Ron grinned.

Hermione shook her head, and walked out the classroom, the boys following closely behind.

"We have entire day left of Hangman to play." Ron said. "Why on earth would we take notes when we could be playing Hangman."

"Hangman, Hermione." Harry added earnestly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and strode down the corridor, catching up with Lily and starting to talk to her.

"It seems Hermione is fed up with us, Ron." 

"She seems to think we should actually do work in our classes." Ron replied.

"We didn't do our work the first time around, how can she expect us to do it this time?" Harry shook his head.

"Maybe we should do work in Defense." Ron wondered. "We might actually have a competent teacher."

"I'll believe that when I see it." Harry muttered, hoping down the stairs. "Right now, we have Herbology."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really short, and it took me so long to write.  
> I'm a tragedy I'm sorry. 
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter seems like it's going to be fun, what with what I have of it so far.  
> I always say chapters are going to be out soon because I've already started them, but we all know I am incapable of posting anything when I say I will. So. Just know that Chapter Nine will be out. I will post it.   
> Pinky promise.
> 
> Lots of love,
> 
> Glove


	10. Maps and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's almost curfew." Remus said, looking at his watch. "We should go, lest we want to be dodging Filch the whole way back."
> 
> Sirius laughed. "Honestly, Moony. We don't have to worry about Filch."
> 
> Remus looked over to Sirius. "And why is that?" He deadpanned.
> 
> "Because," Sirius began. "We have this handy dandy sheet of parchment that tells us exactly where everyone is, every minute, of every day." He pulled a folded up piece of parchment from his pocket, and waved it before the other three Marauders.

MYM(L)9

Maps and Lies

\-------------------------------

James hastily scribbled a conclusion to his Transfiguration essay, while Sirius watched, amused.

"You know, Prongs. We've had over two weeks to finish that essay." He taunted.

"I am well aware of that, Padfoot, thank you." James grumbled, signing his name at the top of the foot and a half of parchment. He waved his wand over it, drying the ink, before he rolled it up and stuffed it in his book bag. "Come on, McGonagall will skin us alive if we're late again."

"Honestly, it was one time." Sirius muttered as they climbed through the portrait hole.

James snorted. "Yeah, one time this month."

Sirius glared at James, who grinned back. He shook his head and looked in front of them, where Ron, Hermione, and Harry were making their way to class.

"You know, Moony was right, there is something weird about those three."

"It's just because my parents like them more than us, that's all." James replied. hiking his bag higher on his shoulder.

"Yeah..." Sirius said, a skeptical look on his face. "Remember that first night at your house? Harry's nightmare?"

James shook his head. "Everyone gets nightmares every now and then, Sirius. There is nothing weird about that."

Sirius stopped walking, and James sighed, turning around to face him. "Yeah Prongs, everyone gets nightmares. But nightmares so bad you scream as loud as he did? And do you remember?" Sirius' eyes widened as pieces fell to place in his head. "Ron said, to Hermione, he said he shared a room with Harry for seven years. Seven years, James!"

James shook his head. "That doesn't mean anything, Sirius. Maybe they were in different rooms in the orphanage they grew up in until they were nine. And then they had to share one. It makes sense that Hermione didn't share one with them, she might be their sister, but she's still a girl. I doubt they'd let them all sleep in the same room."

"Have you ever been to an orphanage, James?"

"No, but neither have you."

Sirius' shoulders slumped. "Point. Okay fine, the seven year thing wasn't that weird. But I'm calling a Meeting tonight. We have to talk about this with Wormtail and Moony."

"I can't wait. Now, we're probably late. We won't be able to have a meeting if we're in detention." James said, before taking off down the corridor, Sirius on his heels.

\----------------------------------------------

Sirius banged an imaginary gavel on the desk in front of him, saying, "I call this Marauder Meeting to order." He glanced around the empty classroom at the other three Marauders, leaning back in his chair. The room was silent for about thirty seconds as they all stared at each other, before Remus cleared his throat.

"What, exactly, is this about, Padfoot?"

Sirius looked at Remus for a moment, before he said, "I want to talk about Harry, Ron, and Hermione."

James rolled his eyes, and Peter looked confused, but Remus straightened up, interested.

"What about them?" Peter asked.

"Do you remember, a while back, when James and I told you about Harry's nightmare?" Sirius questioned.

Remus and Peter nodded, while James muttered under his breath.

"Well, I was thinking about that again today, and I remembered some strange things Ron said."

James lifted his head from where he'd rested it on the desk. "You mean, other than the seven years thing?"

"Yes, Prongs, other than the seven years thing. Though I still think that's weird." Sirius leaned his arms on the desk in front of him and continued. "Harry was having this crazy nightmare, thrashing and screaming in his bed. You all remember this, correct?"

The other three nodded.

"Right, good. So Prongs and I go to investigate, right, and we look in and see Ron and Hermione standing over Harry, trying to wake him up. Hermione is practically in tears at this point, shaking his shoulder and saying his name over and over. Then she asks Ron something along the lines of 'What do you think he's dreaming of?'" Sirius looked at the other to make sure they were following before continuing. "And then Ron answered- I remember all of Ron's lines very clearly for some reason- he said, 'I don't know, probably things that have already happened, because the thrashing isn't as bad.'"

Peter looked at Sirius, brows furrowed. "Harry must have nightmares a lot, if Ron can tell the different degrees of thrashing."

"That's what I thought. And what could possibly be bad enough that a fifteen year old had nightmares like that? What has he seen?" Sirius prompted.

"Maybe he saw his parent's die. They are orphans, and we are in the middle of a war." James said. "That'd be enough to give anyone nightmares."

"Yeah, but didn't your dad say they said they never knew their parents? And that's why they snuck into the Ministry?" Remus inquired.

James nodded. "Yeah, he did, but he could've seen them die as a baby, or something. Just because they don't remember knowing them, doesn't mean they weren't there."

"Yes, but why don't Ron or Hermione seem to have nightmares just as bad as Harry's?" Sirius pushed.

"Maybe they're just better at hiding it. Maybe they don't scream or thrash. Everyone handles nightmares differently, Padfoot." Peter said, in a 'you should know' tone of voice.

Sirius' eyes leapt to Peter, and they narrowed. Peter couldn't possibly be referring to...

But, Sirius couldn't rule it out. He did share a dorm with him, after all. He was just amazed that neither James nor Remus had picked up on Peter's subtle probing. He stared at the younger boy for a moment, before looking away, not wanting it to look like he was in anyway ruffled from the words Peter had just said.

He didn't think anyone had noticed. He silenced his bed curtains every night before he fell asleep, incase he did happen to have a screaming fit like Harry, but no. He always woke himself up from the nightmares, all of them the same except for a single slight difference.

It wasn't always him who died.

\-------------------------------------------------

Harry glanced up at the Portrait hole, expecting the Marauders to come waltzing through any moment. They had left hours ago, and had yet to return. Harry was getting worried.

Maybe not so much for the safety of his four friend/family members, but for the safety of the whole school should they be allowed free reign with their pranks. He was very much expecting another Fred and George, Umbridge level, disaster if those four were left to their own devices. 

And they had a lot of devices.

The Invisibility Cloak for one. The Marauders Map for another. And while Harry wasn't quite sure they had succeeded yet, their Animagus forms should be added to that list, if not now, soon.

As he mulled over what they could possibly be doing out there for so long if it wasn't a prank, a thought struck him. His swiveled his head over to Hermione, who was reading by the fire, and Ron, who was setting up the chess board, obviously just about to ask Harry if he wanted to play.

"Guys."

They both looked up at him, and their faces grew concerned as they witnessed just how pale his face had gotten.

"Harry, mate, what happened?" Ron asked, his eyes widening as he thought of something. "It's not... you know..."

"What?" Harry asked, confused. He looked over at Ron, eyebrows furrowed, when it dawned on him. "Oh. No. I know that's a fear, but no, it's not that."

"Then what is it?" Hermione asked. "What has got you looking like this?"

"The Map." Harry looked down at his hands, and flexed his fingers. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. "The Marauders Map. It shows who people are, who they really are. Just because we changed our names out here, doesn't mean they changed in there."

"Well, it is only you and me who changed our names, Harry." Ron said, looking over to Hermione. "'Mione's name is the same."

"But don't you think they'll find it odd, that Hermione's last name is Granger, but your's and mine, well, aren't?" He whispered, suddenly aware they were in the middle of the crowded common room.

"They should have noticed by now, if they were ever going to." Hermione said, leaning forward. "It's almost the end of October, Harry, they had to have used the Map by now. We were sure they used it the first day or term, remember?"

"Then why haven't they said anything, Hermione? This is Sirius we're talking about. Now I don't know about the others, but I'm positive Sirius would confront us about it." Harry said, pushing his bangs up off his forehead.

"I'm more surprised they haven't asked about the scar." Ron said, his eyes on the lightning bolt scar where it was revealed when Harry pushed his hair back. "I'd have thought at least Peter would ask. He seems like the type of person to do that."

Harry flattened his bangs over his forehead once again, rolling his eyes. "No one knows about it here. I'm not famous for having this mark on my forehead, so no one asks about about it."

"Harry, there is no way that's true. It's a weird scar." Hermione said. "You can tell just by looking at it that you didn't receive it in a normal manner."

He slumped back in his chair, blowing air out of his mouth. "Can we get back on topic please."

"Maybe they just don't know what to make of it. Seeing the name 'Harry Potter' or 'Ronald Weasley' on the map isn't going to have them automatically assuming they're you. They'd have to find the person on the map first, and we can make sure they just don't find us while looking at the map." Hermione shrugged, looking like she very much wanted to continue reading.

"Yes, that's brilliant, Hermione. Just how do you suppose we go about not being found by four people with a magic map telling them our exact location?" Ron drawled.

"Do I have to do everything?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then back at her.

"Yes." They said, simultaneously.

She rolled her eyes. "Honestly."

\-----------------------------------------

"It's almost curfew." Remus said, looking at his watch. "We should go, lest we want to be dodging Filch the whole way back."

Sirius laughed. "Honestly, Moony. We don't have to worry about Filch."

Remus looked over to Sirius. "And why is that?" He deadpanned.

"Because," Sirius began. "We have this handy dandy sheet of parchment that tells us exactly where everyone is, every minute, of every day." He pulled a folded up piece of parchment from his pocket, and waved it before the other three Marauders.

"Is that what I think it is?" Peter asked.

"It most definitely is, Wormtail." Sirius said, smacking the parchment onto a desk, and pulling out his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Ink began to bleed onto the page from an invisible source, forming the words. "Messrs, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, purveyors of aids to magical mischief makers are proud to present THE MARAUDERS MAP."

"You finished it." Remus said, grinning down at the map.

"I had a little bit of time over the weekend, and decided, why not?" Sirius beamed.

"I can't believe it's finished." James said, eyes bright. "We've been trying for years, it's going to be weird not working on it anymore."

"Well, I figured since we got the other thing down, this should be our next step. Think of everything we can do now."

Remus looked up from the map to stare at Sirius. "What other thing?"

Sirius' eyes widened and he looked over at James, who was glaring at him.

"Thanks, Padfoot." He drawled sarcastically. He looked over at Remus and sighed, striding over to the empty middle of the room.

"What are you doing, James?" Remus asked cautiously.

"When we thought up our nicknames, didn't you think they were odd?"

"What? I mean, sure, mine is the only one that really makes sense. You guys didn't seemed bothered by yours though." Remus looked at the rest of the Marauders. "What aren't you telling me?"

"What we are telling you," Sirius said as he joined James in the middle of the room. "Is that we're joining you for the Full Moon this month."

"What?" Remus exclaimed, staring at Sirius. "You can't! I'll kill you!"

James shook his head. "Wormtail. Will you do the honors?"

Peter grinned and hopped up to sit on the desk. He stared at Remus for a moment, grinning, before he started to shrink. Remus gasped, and stared at the small rat sitting where Peter had just been.

"No." Remus whipped his head around, and standing where James and Sirius had been moments before, were a large black dog and a stag. "No, this... you can't have done this."

Suddenly the dog was Sirius again, and he walked forward, placing his hands on Remus' shoulders. "But we did. And we did it for you, Moony."

"I don't understand."

James and Peter were back and they were grinning at him. Sirius swung his arm around Remus' shoulder and smiled.

"You will."

\---------------------------------

Harry started as the topic of their conversation walked through the portrait hole, silent as the grave. Remus came in first, and walked straight up the stairs to the dormitory and didn't say a word. Sirius stared after him, before shaking his head and turning to James and Peter, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket.

Harry's eye widened. 

"Take this. I'll go talk to him."

"Sirius, he doesn't-" James started, but Sirius cut him off.

"He may not want it, but he needs it, Prongs."

Harry looked away as Sirius climbed the stairs, and James and Peter left through the portrait hole, his mind working. Remus was angry, or upset, at the rest of the Marauders. The Map was obviously complete, and Remus wouldn't be mad at that, Harry didn't think. What else did Sirius used to say happened in their Fifth Year?

Padfoot.

Realization crashed down onto Harry, and he looked over at Ron and Hermione.

"Hey-"

The portrait hole slammed open, effectively cutting Harry off, and James stormed in. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Harry looking at him. He looked down at the Map clutched in his hand, and Harry's heart plummeted.

The portrait hole opened again, and Peter came through. "James, what-" 

James held his hand up to stop Peter from continuing, and looked Harry in the eyes.

"Potter."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here I am :)  
> This chapter has been really hard to get out, because initially I wanted to do something completely different with it, but I just couldn't write it that way. So here we are.  
> Check my tumblr for updates on how new chapters are progressing, and on overall good time.
> 
> Glove


	11. Tragedies Abound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Whoa. Weird. Why do we all have different last names?"
> 
> Hermione scoffed. "Honestly, Harry. That's what you ask? Not 'What is this thing?'?"
> 
> "I was saving that one for you, 'Mione." Harry smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.
> 
> "It's a map. A map of Hogwarts." James said, lowering his voice. "We noticed that your names weren't all the same on the first day of term, but weren't sure how to approach you about it."
> 
> "How long have you had this map? Maybe it's broken." Ron asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

MYM(L)10

\------------------------------

"Pardon?" Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione. "Why are you talking about yourself, James?"

James looked down at the parchment in his hand before stuffing it in his pocket. "Oh. I was just thinking, my Grandfather's name was Harry. Harry Potter. And your name is Harry, and I just thought, what if we put Potter on the end? No one would even be able to tell the difference." He smiled and looked at Peter, who had his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "C'mon, Pete. Let's go see how Sirius is faring."

Peter shrugged and waved at the Trio, following James up the stairs.

Harry watched them until they disappeared, and then slumped back down in his chair.

"Holy shit."

\-------------------------------

James burst into the dormitory to find Sirius and Remus sitting on opposite sides of the room. "Guys. I think there is something wrong with the map."

Sirius looked up curiously, but Remus continued to stare out the window. "What do you mean something wrong with the map? We worked hard on that, there is no way."

"There is. Look." James pulled the thick piece of parchment from his pocket and spread it on the bed beside Sirius. Tapping it with his wand he muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Lines of ink spread from his wand, and he flipped up flaps until they could see the Gryffindor Common Room. "Look."

Peter and Sirius hunched over the map, scanning it for something amiss. Peter found it first.

"Wait, so that's why you said that? It wasn't because of your grandfather?"

James held his hand up, asking Peter to wait as he watched Sirius scan the map.

"Harry... Potter." Sirius seized the map and brought it closer to his face. "No way. I knew it! I knew something was weird about them. And look. 'Ronald Weasley' no wonder his hair is so red."

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked, his curiosity piqued. Sirius bounded across the room and shoved the map under Remus' nose, pointing at the area in question.

"Harry Potter? But then why wouldn't he tell your parents he's related to you?" Remus looked at James, confused.

"How do we know he's related to me?" 

The three Marauders looked at James. "What do you me, 'How do we know'?" Sirius said. "His last name is Potter and he looks almost exactly the same as you, Prongs."

"I did think that was really weird." Peter nodded. "You guys could be twins, except his eyes are different."

"Harry's eyes seem really familiar to me, though. So much that I thought I'd met him before." Remus said, folding his arms across his chest.

"What about Ron, though? Do you really believe he's a Weasley?" James asked.

Sirius looked at James doubtfully. "You have seen his hair, right? That's enough of a confirmation for me."

"What if we just ask them?" Peter questioned.

"We can't do that!" James and Sirius exclaimed.

"They could just lie to us." Remus said.

"But, if we showed them the map, they'd have to tell us the truth. We could just lie to them and say we've had it for a long time and that it never lies." Peter looked expectantly at the other three, who were looking at him thoughtfully.

"You know, that might work." Sirius grinned at Peter. "Good going, Wormy."

"Are we doing this now?" Remus asked.

"No better time than the present." James grinned.

\-----------------------------------------

"Was that the Map?" Hermione whispered, looking at Harry slumped in his chair. "They've had it this whole time, why is he so shocked?"

"Maybe he never saw it, and the rest of them were keeping it from him." Ron suggested.

"Why would they do that?" She asked.

"They thought he'd freak out?" 

"I don't think they have had the Map."

Ron and Hermione turned to look at Harry. "You think they only just finished it? And that was the first time they saw our names on it?" Hermione asked.

"I do. It makes sense, doesn't it? That's a complicated piece of magic, no way they could have done it any younger than they are now." Harry said.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, that does make sense, but it doesn't solve the problem that they know who we are."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Well, if the Map is brand new..."

"Finish your sentences Hermione, I thought we talked about this." Ron looked at Harry, shaking his head. "Being back here makes her fall back into old habits." Harry grinned.

She glared at them. "If the Map is brand new, they can't be sure it isn't defective. We can just lie."

"Hermione Granger, advocating lying. I never thought I'd see the day." Ron smirked.

"I don't know, I seem to recall her doing some lying about a certain troll, in First Year." Harry smiled, and Hermione huffed. "You're brilliant, Hermione. I knew there was a reason we kept you around."

"Ha ha, you are both so funny." Hermione deadpanned, as Harry and Ron collapsed into giggles. 

They cut off suddenly when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Hermione leaned back in her chair and reopened her book, and Ron and Harry busied themselves with the chess set. 

James and Sirius emerged first, with Remus and Peter close behind, all four making a beeline for the Trio.

"Hey. We have a question for you three." James said, flopping down on the couch across from Hermione.

Harry looked up from the chess board. "Alright. Is it about your grandfather? Because despite sharing his first name, I don't know him."

"It's about something we saw." Sirius said.

Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, raising his eyebrows. "What did you see?" He asked, turning back to Sirius.

Sirius glanced at James, then pulled the Map from his back pocket. Remus leaned over and tapped it with his wand, whispering the password, so Ron, Harry, and Hermione couldn't hear it, but they knew what he was saying. Ink spread across it, and Sirius flipped the pages. He stopped and looked up at Harry. "We saw this."

He held the map out, and pointed to a section of it. The names 'Harry Potter', 'Ronald Weasley', and 'Hermione Granger' were all clustered together in the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry squinted at it, trying to look surprised. "Whoa. Weird. Why do we all have different last names?"

Hermione scoffed. "Honestly, Harry. That's what you ask? Not 'What is this thing?'?"

"I was saving that one for you, 'Mione." Harry smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"It's a map. A map of Hogwarts." James said, lowering his voice. "We noticed that your names weren't all the same on the first day of term, but weren't sure how to approach you about it."

"How long have you had this map? Maybe it's broken." Ron asked.

James glanced at Remus for a second before turning his attention back to the Trio. "We've had it since Second Year."

Harry smirked inwardly. That was when they figured out Remus was a werewolf. "Where did you find it? Do you know who made it?" He asked.

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Yes, of course. We did."

Hermione looked up, shocked. "But this is really advanced magic! You did this is your Second Year?"

Ron and Harry tried not to smile as they saw the Marauders cursing themselves under their breath.

"There is no way." Ron shook his head. "Who really made the map?"

"We did." Remus said. "But, we haven't had it since Second Year. James lied."

"Moony!"

"Sorry, Prongs. We've only had it since this summer."

"Then how do you know it's not defective?" Hermione arched an eyebrow, looking at the foursome.

"Yeah, it could've just switched some people's names around accidentally." Ron nodded.

Remus sat up straighter. "But James' still says 'James Potter', and there aren't even any other Weasleys in the castle right now."

Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at each other, faces blank, until Hermione's eyes lit up.

"I think I know the reason our names are different." She said, looking down at her hands.

Harry glanced at the Marauders. They were all staring intently at Hermione. "What do you mean, 'Mione?" He asked.

She took a deep breath. "Well-"

She was cut off as someone cleared their throat near the portrait hole.

Every head in the room turned to see Professor McGonagall standing there, her usual stern look replaced by something none of them could quite identify. 

"Have any of you seen Lily Evans?" She asked the room.

Harry's heart plummeted. He recognized the look now. He'd seen it on her face before. Before, when she was informing the Order of another death.

Hermione put her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. Ron was white as a sheet. The Marauders were looking at each other, brows furrowed, confused.

One of the other fifth year girls, Mary MacDonald, spoke up. "She's up in our dorm, Professor. Would you like me to go get her?"

McGonagall sighed. "No, Miss MacDonald. I think it's best to do this in private." She nodded to the students, and then climbed the stairs to the girl's dorms slowly. Everyone watched her until she was out of sight, and when she was, conversation exploded.

"Why does she need to talk to Lily?"

"Why would she not call her to her office?"

"Do you think she did something?"

"This is Lily Evans we're talking about, of course she didn't do anything."

Theories were flying, but the Marauders were silent. Their three companions had a somber air about them, and they weren't entirely sure why.

The owl tapping on the window, however, would change that.

\------------------------------------------------------------

It was in the Evening Prophet.

Thirty Muggles killed in a Death Eater attack.

Lily hadn't come down, even after Professor McGonagall left. 

Harry was worried about her.

Hermione went up to the girl's dormitory to check on her, but came back down soon after, saying she wouldn't talk to anyone, not even Mary or Marlene.

"I don't know what I would have done." Hermione whispered, curled up tightly in a chair by the fire. "If I had gotten news like this while I was here. I would've been devastated."

Harry looked up at her. "But then you would have wanted to fight even more, right?" Hermione looked over at him, brows drawn. "You would've wanted to get out there and find the people who did it."

Hermione's eyes widened and she nodded.

"We can't let Lily go out there. She'll only get herself killed." Harry looked over at Ron, who nodded firmly.

"We'll just stay in the common room to make sure she doesn't sneak out." Ron leaned back against Hermione's chair from his position on the floor, and her hand moved to rest on his shoulder.

Harry smiled slightly at the sight. His two friends couldn't act as affectionate as they usually would here, and the smallest gestures now meant so much more. 

The night wore on and slowly everyone filtered out of the common room, leaving the trio alone.

"You don't really think she's going to try and leave, do you?" Ron asked Harry, breaking the silence.

Hermione answered, "Well of course she is. Where do you think Harry gets it from? Just James?"

Harry grinned as Ron shrugged. "Kind of, yeah. I always figured his mum was like Professor McGonagall in regard to rules." 

"I heard she sort of was. But Remus and Sirius always said she knew when it was time to break a few rules." Harry smiled fondly at the memories of Remus and Sirius reenacting scenes where Lily did the unexpected and shocked the rest of them.

"I remember one they told me, I think she was in like, her Fourth Year or something, and she went up to Dad in the middle of the Great Hall, with all of the teachers watching, and jinxed him with Densaugeo and Tarantallegra and then just walked out." 

Hermione's eyes were wide. "But why? Why would she do that?"

"Because Potter was being an arse to my best mate, that's why."

The three of them froze at the sound of Lily's voice coming from the stairs.

"By the way Harry, Densaugeo is a hex, not a jinx." She said as she made her way over to the couch where he was sitting and flopped down next to him.

Harry swallowed. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, not much." Lily shrugged. "Just enough to hear you call Potter 'Dad'. What's that about then?"

Harry huffed out a small laugh. Of course she would catch that. "How do you know I was talking about James?"

"Because I know that story, and it was Third Year, not Fourth. Why would Remus and Black tell you that? It's not exactly Potter's proudest moment." She crossed her arms over her chest and Harry noticed she was wearing Muggle clothes, jeans and a heavy jacket.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her and gestured to her attire. "Going somewhere?"

Lily blushed. "Don't try to change to topic, Granger."

Harry's brow furrowed and he looked over to Hermione, confused. "Hermione didn't say anything. I did?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but seeing as you three all share the same last name, it could be said that I was referring to you."

Hermione shot him a look and Ron sighed.

Harry looked down at his hands. "Oh. Right, yeah." He looked back up at Lily. "But that doesn't answer my question, Evans."

Lily averted her eyes, and said, "It was just cold in my dormitory, so I put on these to try and warm up and when that didn't work I came down here to sit by the fire and found you three."

Ron snorted.

"What?" Lily looked over at him sharply.

He smirked. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want us to believe you."

"I am telling you the truth, I was cold."

"It would be very difficult for you to be that cold in your dormitory because I know for a fact that there is a heater in the center of each one, and that the House Elves charm our sheets to stay warm in the winter." Ron shook his head. "If you are going to lie, at least make sure you have all of your facts straight and can defend against the truth with a more elaborate, but convincing, lie."

"I'm not lying!" She said, indignantly. 

Hermione looked at her and smiled sadly. "We know, Lily. We know exactly how you feel and what you want to go out there and do. But trust us, nothing they could do is worth you dying, okay? You can't go out there alone, because if you do, you will die. I don't care how good of a witch you are. Going alone and confronting an unknown number of Death Eaters for the sake of avenging your parents isn't going to help anyone. It's just going to get you killed, too." Hermione's eyes were shining and she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. "I know we haven't known you for very long, but we know that it would be a tragic day for everyone if we lost you."

Lily shook her head. "You don't know how I feel. You never knew your parents. You don't know what it's liked to have them just...ripped away from you. You three didn't know any better when yours left or whatever happened to them." Tears shone on her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. "My parents were here yesterday. Alive. I got a letter from them explaining their day. And now. They're just...gone."

"We do know how you feel."

Lily's head jerked up to look at Ron, who was staring into the fire. "How could you possibly know how I feel?"

"Back at the orphanage, there were these twin brothers." He started, and Harry's lips quirked up in a small smile. "They were a few years older than us, and were basically the only family we had. They took care of us. The matron never had enough time or hands to care enough for all of us, so the older kids became our parents. The twins took care of us, and we loved them. They were, for all intents and purposes, our parents." He sighed heavily, and leaned back, resting his head on the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling.

"It was about two years ago, so we were, I don't know, thirteen? Anyway, they were taking us out for ice cream for Harry's birthday, when we were attacked." He took a shuddering breath and plowed on. "We had known we were magic for a while, and had recently gotten our wands, but we didn't really know how to use them, and I don't think we could have stopped them anyway. One of them pulled his wand and pointed it at me." Ron looked down, and it didn't look like he would be continuing, so Hermione picked it up, her voice thick with tears.

"He pointed his wand at Ron, and we could see the green light building at the tip. Everything happened so fast." Tears were flowing freely now, but Hermione stared determinedly at the rug. "I know what he said, but I didn't actually hear him cast the curse. All I could hear was that rushing noise, you know? And it was headed straight for Ron, and I didn't even have time to scream before it made contact. He-" She struggled to continue and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "F-Fred jumped in f-front o-o-of the jet, and it hit him s-straight in the c-c-chest and time...stopped. Everything was s-still. Harry had run forward when he saw the wands and pulled his own f-free. The m-men saw it and turned and r-ran, but the damage had been done."

Hermione took a gasping breath and tears pouring down her face, she tried to steady her voice. Harry reached over and patted her on the arm.

"Fred was family to us. His twin brother, George, was never the same after what happened, and he.... he blamed us. For being wizards and witches. He said that if we weren't the way we are, his brother would still be alive." She shook her head. "We know what it's like to lose family you're close to, Lily. We didn't just lose Fred that day. We lost George, too."

Lily was staring at her, tear tracks lining her pale face. "I didn't- I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Harry smiled, but it wasn't as bright as usual. "You didn't know. But now you do." His eyes took on a fierce quality, staring into her own green ones. "And you know that you cannot go out there to face them."

"I can. I am perfectly capable of defending myself."

Ron looked up at her, his eyes red. "We know you think you have to do this alone, Lily. But you don't have to. As much as we would prefer you staying here and not going after them at all, we know that's not going to happen. We aren't trying to make you stay. We're trying to make you see that since there's no way of stopping you from going, we aren't going to let you go by yourself."

Harry stood. "We're coming with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot diggity dang has it been a long time. Sorry for that. Blame the ten thousand pounds of homework I am currently not doing in favor of getting this out for you.  
> I am letting you know now, that the next chapter probably won't be out for a while. It will not be as long as this last wait you've all had to endure (and man has it been long I am so sorry) but graduation is soon and I am drowning in a sea of work and stress.  
> Anyway, this chapter was a lot of fun to write, I love writing sad stuff. It brings me joy. Weird, right?  
> I hope you liked it and I'll see you all next time :)
> 
> Love and best wishes,
> 
> Glove
> 
> P.S. don't take honors or AP English your senior year, you are just signing yourself up for a billion years of learning you can indeed find a way to hate your favorite subject.


	12. Into the Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Found one!" 
> 
> Harry tore his gaze from Lily and looked over at Ron, who was triumphantly holding a long branch in his hand and grinning. Hermione sighed and straightened from searching the ground, obviously disappointed Ron had beat her.
> 
> Harry smiled at her. "You know, any size stick would do. We are wizards and witches after all."
> 
> Hermione and Ron blushed, both turning away from him and toward the tree. "You ready, mate?" Ron whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Chapter 11! (Does everyone understand why I do that? Bc the first one was the prologue not a chapter? I've confused myself sometimes with it)  
> EEnnnnjjooooyyyy  
> it's everywhere dont hate me

MYM(L)11

Into The Wild

\------------------------------

Harry stood at the bottom on the Grand Staircase, pulling his cloak tighter around himself as the other three Gryffindors made their way down the last few steps.

Ron glanced around the Entrance Hall nervously and leaned in close to Harry. "Why aren't we taking one of the passageways that is actually in the castle, again?"

Harry shrugged. "I only ever took the One-Eyed Witch passageway and that leads into Honeydukes. I don't want to essentially be breaking into a candy shop when we're already sneaking out of school."

"Passageways?" Lily inquired, reaching up and pulling her knit cap lower over her ears.

"We'll tell you when we get out of here, who knows when the next patrol is coming through." Hermione looked back up the staircase and started to usher the others out the main doors. "We should open them as little as possible and go through one at a time. If someone sees us and we have to split up, meet at the Whomping Willow."

Lily looked at her sharply. "Why the Whomping Willow?"

"Passageways." Harry supplied, and started to pull open the door. "Hermione, you first."

She nodded and gripped her wand a little tighter, sliding through the crack Harry had made.

"What are we going to do when we get out there, Harry? We don't have any idea where these people could be." Ron whispered as Lily slipped out after Hermione.

"We do what we do best, Ron." Harry said, nudging his best friend toward the door.

"And what is that?" Ron asked when they were both outside.

"Wing it."

\------------------------------------

The foursome was gathered as close as their could get to the trunk of the tree without the branches lashing out at them. Lily's face was pale as she listened to Harry explain how they were going to get outside the wards.

"How do you know about this?" She asked suspiciously. "You've been at this school for almost two months. There is no way you found out about this in that time."

Hermione and Ron exchanged looks, and Harry just smiled. "We've actually learned a lot about this castle in the time we've been here." He grinned at Ron and Hermione. "We get bored quite often."

Lily glared at him suspiciously, before turning back to stare at the tree. Harry looked at her while the other two searched the ground for a branch that was long enough.

In the few months they'd been in this time, Harry had seen less of his mother than he'd like. He still hadn't gotten the chance to know her properly, probably stemming from the fact he spends an awful lot of time around James, and he and Lily are not on the best of terms. But still, Harry reveled in the time he had. One morning a few weeks back he had gone down for breakfast before anyone else had woken, and found Lily sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating slowly while her eyes rapidly scanned the book in front of her. He had smiled and thought that she reminded him of Hermione when she looked up and waved him over.

That morning, he had breakfast with his mother for the first time.

It was something he would always hold dear to his heart, even though she isn't really his mother and he's technically older than her. Harry had always wanted something as simple and ordinary as that in his life, and he had to pull off the most extraordinary circumstances to make it happen. Most teenagers don't say they had to travel back in time to have breakfast with their parents.

Then again, most teenagers aren't Harry Potter.

"Found one!" 

Harry tore his gaze from Lily and looked over at Ron, who was triumphantly holding a long branch in his hand and grinning. Hermione sighed and straightened from searching the ground, obviously disappointed Ron had beat her.

Harry smiled at her. "You know, any size stick would do. We are wizards and witches after all."

Hermione and Ron blushed, both turning away from him and toward the tree. "You ready, mate?" Ron whispered.

Harry took a deep breath and looked at Lily, who nodded hesitantly. "Ready when you are."

Ron waved his wand and the branch flew toward the trunk, and Harry jogged after it, paying no mind to the branches swinging around his body. Lily followed, eyes wide, but determined. The branch made contact with the knot, and the entire tree froze, causing Lily to stumble in shock.

"How did you figure that out?" She whispered harshly, looking at Harry only to see him drop down a hole she never noticed was there before. She stopped at the edge and peered down into the darkness, jumping slightly when Harry lit his wand. 

"Come on, it's perfectly safe." He smiled up at her, and her expression hardened. She jumped down the hole after him, and started walking. 

She was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake. She was not scared of a hole in the ground or a musty old passage way. 

Lily heard Ron and Hermione slide down the hole and all three start to follow after her. She looked around the tunnel she was traversing and was reminded of the time last summer when her father wanted to try out spelunking. 

Her shoulders hunched over as she remembered that ridiculous hat he insisted on buying and the knee pads he made her wear. Her mother and sister had refused to go with him, but nothing could stop His Brave Lily, so she couldn't very well say no. They had gotten as far as the mouth of the cave when her father had slipped and landed on his arse. He had looked up at her and laughed, saying that maybe they should wait for a drier day.

They had gone out instead to see the Exorcist, a movie her mother would never let them see. Lily had loved it and her father had just walked out of the theater, eyes wide, causing Lily to laugh at him and make him jump. 

The two of them had gone home and told her mother and sister a wonderful tale of the caves they traversed, glancing at each other every now and then to make scary faces at the other.

Lily could feel her throat closing up with suppressed tears and pushed them back, taking a deep breath.

She was doing everything she could to make this right. She needed to do this. To hurt the people who hurt her, who took her parents from her. She stared at the ground in front of her, and would've walked straight into the wall had Harry not grabbed her shoulder, holding her back.

"It's pretty creepy up there, so you may want to light your wand." He muttered softly, smiling gently at her as if he knew what she was just thinking about. 

Lily looked into his green eyes, and wondered. Wondered what happened to him, what he witnessed, to make his eyes dull like that. She caught him sometimes, staring off at nothing. Lily had never seen someone's face look so blank and free of any emotion. It was like Harry was feeling too deeply and too strongly for him to let it show, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling it. Lily had never seen anything horrific, only heard about them, and that was enough for her. Enough that she didn't really recognize her eyes when she looked in the mirror.

Harry was different. So were Ron and Hermione, for that matter, but it was somehow...more with Harry.

Lily didn't understand it.

She didn't need to.

She lit her wand.

\--------------------------------------------

"I've never liked being in here." Ron whispered.

"Ronald, there is no need to whisper, no one is out here." Hermione said, her voice slightly above the normal volume.

"I don't know, Hermione, the Shack always seemed like a whisper place to me." Harry shrugged, and turned to Lily who was holding her lit wand above her head to see around her. Her eyes were wide as she took in the ripped up furniture, the claw marks on the walls, the stains on the floor that were very obviously dried blood. She looked over at Harry.

"I never believed it before now." Lily breathed. She shook he head, red hair falling in her face. "This place really is haunted."

Harry and Ron grinned at each other, while Hermione got right to business. She walked over to the door and waved her wand in a weird pattern and frowned.

Lily stopped looking around, and turned to watch Hermione wave her wand funnily at the door again. Again, she frowned, and Lily wanted to laugh.

"Hermione, whatever are you doing?"

She turned to the other girl and blushed. "I figured that since it's technically connected to the school that there might be some wards on the door, blocking anyone from entering." Hermione turned back to the door and waved her wand in one fluid motion. "But there isn't." She said, as the door swung open.

Harry gave her a look that Lily didn't understand, but Hermione clearly did.

"Let's just go. Do you know where we're going, Lily?" 

Lily stopped in the doorway and turned to look at the Trio. "I hadn't thought that far ahead." 

Hermione threw an accusing look at Harry, who raised his hands in surrender.

Ron rolled his eyes at his siblings and said, "We should just follow the Death Eaters. Do you know...uh..." The tips of his ears were suddenly burning red, and he looked at the floor and mumbled the rest of his question.

"Pardon?" Lily asked.

Ron sighed. "Do you know which Death Eaters it was that, um, you know?"

It was Lily's turn to look at the floor as she understood what Ron was asking. She did, in fact, know which Death Eaters were responsible for the raid on her town, therefore the ones responsible for her parent's deaths.

Dolohov.

Travers.

And Lestrange.

She looked up and repeated the names out loud.

"Which Lestrange?"

"Pardon?"

"Which Lestrange? Aren't there three?" Ron asked.

"Three?" Lily asked, confused. "No, there is only the two brothers. Rodolphus and Rabastan."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked at each other, their shock showing on their faces. It was like they thought someone was missing.

"And anyway," Lily continued, as if nothing had happened. "only one of them is out of school, so we know which one it was." At their blank looks, she sighed. "Rabastan is in Sirius' little brother, Regulus', year."

"So it's Rodolphus." Harry said, nodding. 

"Do you know where they live?" Hermione asked. "Or at least one of them?"

"I have a pretty general idea, yes." Lily replied.

"Lily...are you sure you've thought this through? We don't really know what we're getting into, and we are just kids." Harry said. "It's not really our fight. We should leave it to the Aurors."

Lily looked at him, her green eyes blazing. "They attacked, and murdered my family, Harry. They are targeting people like me, and the families of people like me. This became my fight the minute I was born with magic. You think I should leave this up to the Aurors? Look how well they've done so far. Didn't even make it to the scene of the attack until it was already over." 

Hermione and Ron were looking at him like they had never seen him before.

"I just want to make sure you're not running into this without thinking." Harry said, shooting Ron and Hermione a look. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"Why do you care so much? You haven't known me for that long, I don't understand why you're helping me, or why you care at all. I know you know what I'm feeling, but that doesn't explain why you feel the need to tag along!" Lily backed out of the doorway, tripping slightly on the steps.

"Lily, we told you-"

"Yes, I know, the story you told me about your family. It is sad, yes. I'm sorry about that. But just because you know how I'm feeling-"

"If you're going to do this Lily, we're going with you. I don't care if it doesn't make sense to you why we must. That's just the kind of people we are." Harry gave Lily a look, and she was taken aback by the hardness in his eyes. "Do you understand?"

She glared at him, before rolling her eyes and nodding her head.

"Good." He gave her a small smile before his face melted back to business. "Now, do you know the Apparition coordinates?"

"Why would I have those? I don't know how to Apparate." Lily looked at the Trio suspiciously. "Do you know how to Apparate?"

They exchanged looks. Ron shrugged.

"We're overachievers?" Hermione suggested.

She eyed them. "O-k-a-a-ay. No, I do not have them, but I know someone who might."

"And who might that be?" Hermione asked.

"Well...I don't actually know her personally, but I know a guy who does." Lily smiled sheepishly.

"So, what you're saying is, you know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy?" Ron grinned.

Harry groaned and looked at Hermione. "We've got to stop letting him watch Muggle movies."

Lily gave Harry a weird look, but nodded at Ron. "Essentially, yes. But it means I have to involve more people in this."

"Right after you tear into us about coming with you?"

Lily had the grace to blush.

Hermione sighed. "Alright. It is your decision after all. Who are these other people who know people?"

She fidgeted awkwardly. "Well. It, uh, may be...the Marauders? Most specifically Sirius Black, but involve one, involve them all."

Harry's eyes lit up.

He knew exactly who Sirius would contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I didn't edit this, because I figured "Hey they've been so patient and waited for quite some time, don't delay their happiness" so I didn't delay your happiness and left you with another cliffhanger. You're welcome.  
> Umm, yeah. So there is that.  
> OH! I graduated. Yes thank you thank you. I also moved. Dyed my hair blue and purple.  
> It's been an exciting month or two.  
> I know I always say I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I can and well. It is the truth. I try. Sometimes I just. Have no where to go with the story so I just don't.  
> I don't want to disappoint you guys though, I love you all so much.  
> This is getting really long, so I'll stop.  
> Thank you so much for reading! I'll see you next time :)
> 
> Love you!
> 
> Glove


	13. Scare Tactics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Thank you, Sirius. This means a lot to me." Lily looked up at him and smiled. Green eyes met grey, and Sirius shrugged and looked away.
> 
> "I'm sorry about your parents, Evans." 
> 
> "Not as sorry as Lestrange is going to be." Lily muttered.

MYM(L)12

Scare Tactics  
\--------------------------------------------

Harry pushed open the curtains to Sirius' bed, smiling slightly at the sight of his godfather sprawled across his mattress, mouth open. He nudged Sirius' shoulder, and all that happened was Sirius rolled over.

"Come on, mate, wake up." Harry whispered-talked.

There was a rustling from across the room, and someone lit their wand. "Harry? What are you doing?"

Remus had woken and was staring at Harry in confusion. Harry raised his finger to his lips and gestured for Remus to join him by Sirius' bed. Remus slowly crept across the room, throwing Harry a weird look.

"What are you doing?" He repeated.

"I can't wake Sirius up. Can you help me?" 

"Why do you need to wake Sirius up? He is notoriously cranky, woken up in the middle of the night. What do you need?" Remus glanced down at the sleeping boy, and noxed his wand. He squinted over at Harry, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, and he realized what Harry was wearing. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not entirely sure. None of us are, that's why we need Sirius." Harry smiled sheepishly. "She didn't want you guys to know."

"Us? She? Who are you..." He glanced back at Sirius as his mind connected the pieces. "Ah. Lily, right?"

"I never thought I was obvious about my secrets, and yet here we are." Harry sighed, and nudged Sirius again. "Can you wake him up?"

Remus looked at him for a moment, then turned and shoved Sirius bodily off his bed. He hit the floor with a dull thud, and the other two boys didn't even stir. Remus had hit Sirius with a silencing charm as soon as he hit the floor, so his shocked yells weren't heard. Sirius looked up at the two boys standing over his bed and frowned. Harry nodded out of the room, and turned to leave, expecting them to follow.

He smiled when he heard two sets of footsteps on the stairs behind him.

Harry emerged into the Common Room, and Lily let out a breath. "Finally, what took you so-" She broke off when both boys came into view. "Why is Remus here?"

"I couldn't wake up Sirius." Harry said, by way of explanation. He wandered over to Hermione and Ron who were seated by the fire, leaving the explanations to Lily.

"Evans? What are you doing?" Sirius asked blearily. Remus had evidently taken the charm off him.

Lily wrung her hands together and looked over at the Trio, all three of which gestured for her to go on. She bit her lip and sighed, turning back to Remus and Sirius.

"Well, I need to ask you a small favor..."

\------------------------------------------------

"This is utterly ridiculous."

"It's for Lily, Padfoot."

"Yes, and when has she ever actually spoken to us in a non insulting way, let alone ask us for something?"

"She talks to me all the time."

"Okay, Mr. Prefect, we know you get to hang out with Evans all the time. James is constantly complaining when you go on patrols."

"You're just jealous."

"Why would I be jealous of Evans? It's me you're coming back to every night, not her."

They stared at each other for a moment, smiling slightly. Then, an owl hooted and they jumped.

"Right. So, what are we meant to be writing?" Sirius asked.

"I'm not sure. Lily wants us to ask, well wants you to ask Narcissa if she knows where the future husband of her sister is."

"You can just say Lestrange, Moony, I know who we're talking about it."

"Yes." Remus rolled his eyes. "I still don't know how we're meant to get this information from her. Like she would actually tell you anything. When even was the last time you two talked?"

"Christmas, last year. I said 'Happy Christmas' and she sneered at me and said goodbye. Haven't spoken to her since, the spoilt little brat." Sirius muttered bitterly.

Remus looked at Sirius, who was staring down at the parchment with a crease between his eyebrows. He hadn't talked about what happened this summer since they got to school, and Remus knew it must be weighing on him somehow. He just didn't know how to broach the topic.

"Why does it have to be Cissy anyway? Andy probably knows, why can't I ask her? She is more likely to tell us than dear old Narcissa." Sirius grumbled. Remus stared at him until he looked up. "What?"

"We're changing the letter."

\------------------------------------------------

Lily looked down at the letter in her hands for the thirtieth time since it was handed to her. She had memorized the whole thing, but still felt better being able to look at it. "I can't believe your cousin just gave you the coordinates."

"Well, to be fair, she does know none of us can Apparate so, to her, this information is essentially useless to us." Remus answered. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"And you haven't met Andromeda. She's all about rebellion and fighting for a cause."

"Thank you, Sirius. This means a lot to me." Lily looked up at him and smiled. Green eyes met grey, and Sirius shrugged and looked away.

"I'm sorry about your parents, Evans." 

"Not as sorry as Lestrange is going to be." Lily muttered.

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, and they nodded and climbed out of the portrait hole.

"Wait. You're going? Now?" Remus asked.

"No time like the present." Harry smiled as he let Lily climb out before him. He looked over at the two boys. "Don't worry. We won't let her get hurt."

"And what about yourselves?" 

Harry smirked and started climbing out. "We have our ways."

The two Marauders looked at each other as Harry slipped out. "I still think there is something weird about them." Remus said.

"I have never agreed with you more, Moony."

\----------------------------------------------------

The four Fifth Years stepped out of the Shrieking Shack, and Harry looked at Lily. She sighed, irritated. She glared at him and Harry held his hands up in surrender, before holding one out to her.

"Hold on tightly, okay?" She nodded, and he glanced at the coordinates once more before handing the letter to Ron and Hermione.

"Don't hold you breath." Harry said, and before Lily really had time to register what he said, he had spun on one foot.

The two of them were pulled into a crushing blackness, and Lily didn't pay any heed to Harry's advice and tried to hold her breath, only to have to forced violently from her lungs. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out.

And then it was over, and they were standing between a giant hedge and a forest of thick trees.

A loud crack was heard beside them and Ron and Hermione appeared, looking slightly wind swept. "You sure this is the place?" Ron asked in a low tone, walking over to Harry. Him and Hermione converged on either side of Harry like a protective force. The way they did it though, seemed unintentional. None of them remarked on it, and there were no signals exchanged. The three of them just seemed to know what the others were doing and what they needed to do.

It made Lily wonder. She'd have to talk to Remus when she got back. He had lived with them for a while, he would know about strange behavior, right?

Harry was advancing on the hedge, while Ron and Hermione turned and scanned the forest. His eyes roved over the dark leaves, looking for something. Lily walked up next to him and tried to see what he was looking for, when she noticed a tall wooden gate, overgrown with ivy.

"There." She said, pointing. Harry followed her finger, and gave her an appreciative smile. Lily started to walk towards it, when he grabbed her arm.

"Not yet."

He crouched and picked up a small stone, and cast a featherweight charm on it.

Harry then proceeded to fling it at the gate, hard. 

Before it got there, it hit some sort of force field, making the gate flash gold and the rock to blasted into thousands of tiny pieces.

Lily, blinking the afterimage of the golden gate out of her eyes, turned back to Harry. He was crouched again, picking up another rock.

"What was the point of that?" She whispered harshly.

He nodded towards the gate in a 'you'll see' sort of way. She sighed and looked back at the gate as the rock flew threw the air. 

It collided directly with the wood, and fell silently to the ground.

Lily looked at it, eyebrows raised. Harry huffed out a breath and smiled. "Thought so." He looked back at Lily. "The wards react to magic. They're low level, so as long as we don't actually use magic breaking in, we should be fine."

"How do you know all this?" Lily asked, curious.

"There was a time a little while back when we had a lot of time on our hands, with not much else to do but read. So we furthered our magical education." Hermione piped in from behind them, making Lily jump.

"So you read books on warding?"

Ron shook his head. "Not so much actually warding things, because I still struggle with that. It was more how certain wards react to different things and how to identify them." 

"Ah." Lily said, staring at the three siblings in a new light. They were a lot smarter than they lead her to believe at first. Well, Harry and Ron. Lily was under the impression it would be very hard for Hermione to hide just how brilliant she really was.

Harry walked up to the gate and tried to peer through a crack in the wood, to little success. "I guess we just take our chances opening it." He reached for the handle, but leapt back when it started to turn on its own. The four of them hurried around to the hedge, pressing themselves against it out of sight of the gate. A dull thud resounded, and sharp intake of breath signaled that they were no longer alone.

Lily looked at Hermione, green eyes wide with fear. Hermione looked back with an expression of what Lily perceived to be determination. She rested her hand on the other girls shaking shoulder, and gave it a reassuring squeeze, drawing her wand with her other hand. Hermione slowly leaned forward, her bushy hair blending in with the hedge in the darkness. She looked toward the gate, and a confused huff escaped her lips. She looked back at Lily and motioned for her to stay, before sliding closer to the gate, wand held in front of her. Hermione's eyes rested on a form huddled just outside the gate, their body shaking. As she got closer she could hear the shuddering sobs coming from the person. 

Hermione shifted her foot, and accidentally sent a rock skidding across the ground, making the person jerk their head up at the sound. She stood completely still, pressed against the hedge, as they looked around. She could see now that it was a young girl, no older than she was. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, her blonde hair hanging limp about her shoulders. 

Hermione stepped forward, and the girls eyes latched onto her immediately.

"Oh, please! Please you must help me! There are these-these people, they kid-kidnapped me." The girl stuttered out, fresh tears streaming down her face. "They kept po-pointing these things at me, and th-then everything was just p-pain. Please, you have to help me, I don't know where I am, please!"

Hermione made to move towards the girl, but a sharp hiss of "'Mione, no." to her right made her pause. The girl looked towards the sound, and Harry stepped into the light, his wand clutched tightly in front of him. The girl let out a hysterical sob, and scrambled backwards away from him. Harry made his way over to Hermione, keeping his distance from the girl.

"Hermione, you can't fall for this." He whispered gently to his best friend. "There must've been sensors on the wards that warned when someone was close, or tested the ward with magic. We can't trust her."

"But Harry-"

"Hermione, these are Death Eaters we're dealing with. They're not below using tactics such as this to lure people in. They must know that whoever would try to break in would be roped in by someone needing help." His eyes implored her to understand. "It's killing me to not help this girl, you must know that. But we can't take the chance. Not now. Not yet."

She looked at him like she'd never seen him before. "Has the world suddenly flipped backwards? Aren't I usually the one saying things like that to you? When did I become the reckless one?" 

Harry smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her back into the shadows. "We all have to get there eventually. You're just a late bloomer." Hermione elbowed him in the side, and turned back to the girl.

Her expression had changed once they left her line of sight. Her eyes were narrowed and her back stiff. Her hands were curled into fists on the ground, and she looked poised to jump at anyone who approached her. The girl stared in the direction Harry and Hermione had gone in, but she didn't move to follow them. They watched her a moment longer and the girl let out a frustrated growl. She stood abruptly, and marched over to the gate, lifting her arm and phasing right through it just as her skin started to bubble and morph.

Hermione caught a glimpse of wild black hair before the gate was solid again, and looked at Harry in shock. 

He smiled stiffly at her. "I'd recognize her voice anywhere, no matter how much Polyjuice Potion she takes."

Hermione looked at the ground. "You'd think the same could be said for me."

Ron came over and put a hand on her shoulder, conscious of Lily just a few feet away. "Are you okay?"

"Never better." She smiled and turned to Lily. "You still ready for this?"

A familiar look of determination crosses Lily's face as she nods. Hermione looks at Harry and smirks when she sees that same look directed at the other girl. 

"Then lets get to this. We can't go through the gate anymore."

"No." Harry agreed. "We'll have to scout around the perimeter and see if we can find any weaknesses we can exploit."

A mischievous smile lit Ron's face, eerily reminiscent of his brothers. "I think I might know how we can get in."

\------------------------------------------

A hour and a half later, the four of them were standing behind the Lestrange Manor, sweaty and covered in dirt.

Ron shrugged at the three glares tossed his way. "At least we're inside?"

"How did you think of tunneling under the wards, anyways?" Harry asked.

Ron started to say something, but Hermione spoke over him. "It was a muggle movie he watched, how else?"

"Can we get back on track, please?" Lily asked, her voice laced with nervousness.

The four teenagers surveyed the area they were in with extreme difficulty, since everything was cloaked in darkness and none dared light their wand. They could see the vague shape of trees, back lit by dim lights from the mansion.

"Do we really have to go in there?" Hermione asked. "That does not seem like a good idea."

"'Mione, honestly, did you think we came all this way to, what, take a picture?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows at her. "It's much too dark for that."

"Good thing you three aren't a train, you'd have derailed a hundred times over by now." Lily whispered, irate. "We're going in. I'm going to show those assholes what happens when you kill innocent people." She started toward the short line of trees, ignoring Harry's vague noise of protest. Her wand was being griped so tightly, she had half a mind to think it would splinter. She felt more than heard when the other three joined her, all of them crouching and peering through low branches.

They could just make out a few people sitting in the drawing room, candles burning low like they had been there for a while. One was bulky and broad, and the other was slimmer with longer hair that caught the light.

Harry was about to creep closer to Lily and explain his plan, when movement from inside caught his eye.

Someone new had entered the room.

While she looked different from when they knew her, there was no way any of the Trio could forget the face of Bellatrix Lestrange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!
> 
> So I don't actually intend on abandoning this story, so never fear. I just have trouble with figuring out how to do the things I want done without being super cliche about it. And also major writers block. And supreme laziness.
> 
> I did not get where I wanted with this chapter. I really don't want to spend seven thousands chapters just on this one this, because its been what, three already?? It's getting ridiculous. I'm trying to end it the next chapter, and move on to something more exciting, like Harry's first christmas with his parents.
> 
> I love you all! 
> 
> Glove


	14. House of the Brave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, Merlin." Lily whispered. "It's Bellatrix Black."
> 
> The other three turned to stare at her. "Black?" Hermione asked.
> 
> "Yes, Black. She's Sirius' cousin." Lily answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am alive, yes thank you for noticing. Here is the long awaited chapter 13 enjoy

MYM(L)13 (Unlucky Thirteen)

House of the Brave  
\----------------

Ron looked quickly over at Hermione, who had gone still. Her eyes were focused intensely on the other woman and Ron was struck again by all the things they changed. It was one thing seeing someone you loved who died standing alive again before you, it was a whole other to see someone you despised living as if they hadn't been taken down right in front of you.

Ron was going to make sure Bellatrix Lestrange never touched anyone he loved ever again.

"Oh, Merlin." Lily whispered. "It's Bellatrix Black."

The other three turned to stare at her. "Black?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Black. She's Sirius' cousin." Lily answered, interpreting Hermione's question wrongly. "She graduated a few years ago, but her reputation was known by even the newest first year. She, uh, liked to practice spells she had created on the younger years." Lily looked down. "It's very possible she is a Death Eater herself, because her soon to be husband is one."

Harry reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She smiled at him, and turned back to the lit window.

"We need a way in." She said, gripping her wand tightly.

Harry looked to Ron. "Do you think they have-"

"Most don't." He replied, his brow furrowed.

"So then if we use-"

"Likely we'll be spotted."

"Disillusion?"

"Could work. Two stay, two go?"

Hermione shook her head. "Maybe we could-"

"But they're better duelists. We'd be out matched." Harry countered.

Ron looked at Lily. "What if we send-"

"And then fire-"

"But then what's the point of being inside?" Hermione asked.

Lily stayed silent, trying to work out what they were suggesting with the limited information they were providing. She thought Harry was suggesting brooms onto...the roof? Maybe. And then Hermione was saying that they could draw them out of the manor?

Lily started shaking her head.

"What was I thinking?"

Her soft voice cut through the flurry of ideas like a knife. The other three looked at her.

"Lily?" Harry asked.

"I don't think I can do this."

"Of course you can!" Ron said, vehemently. "You're Lily freaking Evans! You can do anything."

"That's sweet, Ron, but you've only known me a few months. I do have limitations."

"My knowing you for a short amount of time only strengthens my argument. A witch who can lose practically everything, and still want to fight for the good of others? There is no one stronger."

"But I'm not doing this for others. I'm doing this for me." Lily protested.

"No," Hermione smiled. "You're doing this so no one else has to go through what you've been through. You're doing this so no one else has to suffer. Sure, there is a modicum of wanting revenge, but in your heart, you truly want to do this for others."

"Earlier you tried to convince me not to do this."

"Yeah, well, you remind us a lot of Harry here. We'd rather go with you and help you not die than try to make you not go on, and you end up going without us there to back you up." Ron said.

"I resemble that statement." Harry joked, easing the tension.

"We are already here." Hermione pointed out.

"Why risk sneaking back in and being caught, when we can risk our lives?" Harry said.

"If we're caught by Professor McGonagall, we risk our lives either way." Ron shivered.

Harry turned to Hermione seriously. "He does have a point."

Lily looked at the three of them standing in front of her. She felt extremely close to them, despite the short length of time she had known them. 

She trusted them.

"I vote we draw them out." She said firmly. "Give us an even playing ground, since we don't know the layout of their house."

Harry looked at her for a moment, before nodding sharply. He looked around, assessing their surroundings, cloaked in darkness as they were. He nodded again.

"Okay, Hermione, I'm going to need you to climb one of these trees."

She sighed, but complied, searching for low hanging branches.

"Ron, you and I are going to hide in this field, behind bushes or something, on either side of Lily." Harry turned to look at her once Ron nodded. "Lily, I don't know how comfortable you are with this, but we need you to act essentially as bait."

Her eyes widened as Harry explained his plan, but she got the reason. Bellatrix would probably recognize her, and she was bound to know why Lily was here.

She hoped they could pull this off.

\---------------------------------------------

Harry bit his lip as he watched Lily make a ball of light and throw it high into the air. It pulsed, once, twice, three times, and the sound of a door being thrown open reached their ears.

Bellatrix Black skipped gleefully through the line of trees, her fiance and soon to be brother-in-law nowhere in sight. She stopped when she spotted Lily, and laughed maniacally. Harry quirked an eyebrow. He had always thought Bellatrix was driven insane by the long stay in Azkaban, but clearly he was wrong.

"Oh look, it's the Mudblood Evans!" Bellatrix grinned at Lily, who had a furious look on he face. "You know, while I was watching Dolph kill your parents, I admit I didn't see this coming. At least, not so soon."

"I'm going to make you regret the day you decided to mess with my family." Lily snarled, and Bellatrix's grin widened. 

"And what are you going to do, exactly? You're....fifteen now? You honestly think you can take me alone?" 

Lily lifted her chin, her eyes defiant, and Harry suddenly saw himself more than ever in her. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Oh, but you should be." A voice murmured from behind her.

Lily didn't move a muscle as a streak of light flew out from behind a bush, colliding with the smaller of the men behind her.

Lily smiled. "And I'm not alone."

Harry leapt from behind his bush and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lily. He fired off a quick volley of spells and Bellatrix's grin slid off her face. She spun away from most of them, but brought up a shield for the last few. 

"Is that wee little James Potter? How's my blood traitor cousin, Potter? Still taking it up-"

Harry fired an explosive hex at the ground by her feet, and followed up with the most powerful cutting hexes he knew. A few made contact with her arms and face and small gashes appeared. Lily joined him and whipped off stunners and shield charms, protecting both of them from Bellatrix's deadly barrage of spell fire. 

Someone cried out behind them, and Harry desperately wanted to turn and see who was hurt, but he knew if he turned his back on Bellatrix he most likely wouldn't be walking out of here.

Harry focused all his attention of Bellatrix, blocking everything but Lily beside him out. He pressed Bellatrix back toward the tree line, and prayed Hermione understood what to do. Harry kept pushing until she was directly under the tallest tree.

"Push me all you want Potter!" Bellatrix cried suddenly. "No matter what happens to me it'll be your family next!"

Harry slashed violently with his wand, and Bellatrix fell to her knees. She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. Harry glared at her, and said "You've already destroyed my family once, I won't let you do it again." 

Bellatrix cackled, and whipped her wand forward, cutting deep into Harry's leg. A harsh cry came from the tree above them and before Bellatrix could look up, red light hit her in the back and she fell forward, stunned

Hermione climbed down the tree quickly. "Harry, are you okay?"

Harry grimaced and waved his wand, wrapping a bandage around his leg. "Fine, we should go see if Ron needs help."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she took off across the clearing towards the rest of the spell fire. Harry started to follow when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked up to find Lily looking at his face with a critical expression.

"Lily?"

"You do look an awful lot like him." She said softly. Harry's eyes widened. "Except the eyes. You have-"

"My mothers eyes."

Harry froze. He couldn't look away from Lily's face as she took in his words.

"Your eyes are almost the exact same shade as mine." Lily said. Harry couldn't bring himself to nod. "You didn't even react whenever Bellatrix called you 'Potter'. Almost like you were used to it. Almost like-"

"I'm a Potter."

Now it was Lily's turn for her eyes to widen. "I don't understand. James doesn't have any siblings and there aren't any Potter's left living and that doesn't even explain the eyes, Harry what is going on, I don't understand."

"It's best if you don't know, Lily." Harry said, slowly.

"Bollocks." Lily's eyes burned. "You've given me so many hints, and you just told me you're a Potter for Merlin's sake! You must be dying to tell someone this, or you wouldn't have said anything at all!" Lily looked at Harry imploringly, and Harry looked down. He couldn't look at her when she had those eyes, because then he'd tell her everything, and it's not his secret alone to tell. 

"Harry. Harry look at me."

Harry took a shaky breath and looked up at Lily. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed and she had an amazed and confused look on her face that Harry didn't know what to do with. 

"Are you..." She paused and pursed her lips, thinking. Lily narrowed her eyes and continued. "Are you from the future?"

Harry forced himself to start laughing through the complete horror he felt. "The future? Lily, that's ridiculous. Why would you even think that?"

"Harry." The look Lily gave him then was one he wouldn't forget for years to come. She looked at him the way Mrs. Weasley looked at Ron when she was trying to get Ron to tell her the truth. 

Minutes passed, or maybe it was hours, with Harry and Lily just staring at each other. Harry couldn't hold it back anymore. 

"Lily-"

"Harry!!"

Harry spun around, and sprinted toward the sound of Hermione's voice. He found her kneeling next to Ron, who was on the ground, clutching his side. Ron looked up when he heard Harry arrive.

"It's nothing, really, I've had worse." Ron said quickly. Harry watched as blood seeped out from between Ron's fingers. He looked up at Ron.

"'It's nothing', huh?" Harry rolled his eyes. He looked at Hermione, and started casting healing spells over Ron.

Ron looked up at Hermione in concern. "You alright, 'Mione?" He asked, his voice soft. Hermione's face was pale, and she was staring at the wound in Ron's side.

"Hermione?" Ron said, a little more forcefully. She started and looked up at his face. "Are you okay?"

Hermione bit her lip and looked at Harry, her eyes following every movement of his wand. "I'm fine." She muttered. 

The sound of slow footsteps made them all look up. Lily approached, looking a little ruffled. The four of them stared at each other for a moment.

"Are you okay, Ron?" Lily asked.

He grinned up at her. "Oh yeah, peachy. This is nothing. You should've seen me when I splinched myself seventh-"

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

Ron looked at them, his eyes wide. Slowly, the Trio turned to look up at Lily.

Triumph burned in her eyes.

"I knew it. "

"Lily, it isn't what you think." Harry started.

"How is it not what I think, Harry? The three of you are from the future. You are Harry Potter. That's what I think. Am I wrong?" 

"Well, no, you're not wrong, but you don't know why." Harry said.

"If it has anything to do with taking down You-Know-Who, I'm all for it." Lily crossed her arms over her chest, and raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

Suddenly, Hermione stood up. She faced Lily and looked her in the eye. "We're here to kill Voldemort. He has killed people we love and we are not going to stand by and let that happen again."

Lily looked unsure. "You really think you can kill him?"

Ron pushed himself into a sitting position, groaning. "We know we can. We've done it."

Lily stared at him, eyes wide. "What do you mean, 'We've done it.'?"

"Well generally the phrase, 'We've done it' implies that we have indeed, done it. Ow, Hermione!" Harry rubbed the back of his head where Hermione had slapped him.

"We don't need your smart mouth in this situation, Harry."

"Hey, my smart mouth has gotten me places." Harry protested.

"Yeah, detention." Ron laughed.

"You're telling me you've killed Voldemort?" Lily said. "Like, he is now a corpse and is not coming back, dead?"

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, who had a sheepish look on his face. 

"Well, he's not a corpse anymore because we burned the body. We figured no one should have to ever encounter that fuckers grave." Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. "And it wasn't just me. It was a group effort, killing him."

"Yes it was, I would like to take credit for most of the work." Hermione grinned at the boys, who both wore matching affronted expressions.

"Most of the work my arse! I seem to remember us all sharing the burden equally." Ron said.

"Ron, I don't think you know what the word 'equally' means because you certainly aren't using it correctly." Harry quipped, dodging a kick. "It was most certainly me who did most of the work, you guys were kind of just background helpers."

"Background helpers!" Hermione exclaimed, her face alight with amusement. "And just who was it that found out what could destroy the objects we were searching for, hmm?"

"Harry, obviously. Second year? Ringing any bells, 'Mione?" Ron said. "Oh wait, you were petrified for that weren't you? I supposed we can forgive you for not remembering then."

"Ronald Weasley! I did most of the work then, too! If it weren't for me, you two would've been wandering around until I woke up, with no clue what to do."

"Excuse me, I take offense to that." Harry said. "I never wander, I always move with a purpose."

"Did you say Weasley?"

The Trio looked at Lily, confused for a moment.

"Pardon?" Hermione asked.

"You just called Ron, Ronald Weasley. Like, Arthur Weasley?" Lily said.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged looks. 

"You know Arthur?" Hermione asked.

"Not personally, but I know people who know him." Lily looked at Ron. "Are you related?"

Ron looked at Harry, and Harry looked at Hermione, who shrugged. 

"We have a lot to tell you, Lily, but I think we should find someplace a little more secure before we do." Hermione said, and she held her hand out.

Lily took it, and with a crack, they apparated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated and they make me write faster :)


	15. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus woke up the morning of October thirty-first, and took a deep breath, feeling the extra magic in the air. Samhain had arrived, and with it, extraordinary levels of energy from everyone in the castle. The other boys who occupied his dorm were already awake and bouncing off the walls, save one.
> 
> Harry lay still in bed, his curtains slightly open, but his blanket pulled up to cover his head. Ron sat on the bed next to him, tying his shoes, but glancing up worriedly every few seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels strange posting something relatively Happy on the 19th anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts, but here we are. Things are going to speed up pretty soon, because I want to show Harry having his first Christmas he can remember with his parents and then a lot of time skips are going to be happening, because otherwise, we aren't going to get to seventh year and beyond until I'm 30. I'm only 19. 
> 
> Happy Sadiversary everyone, enjoy :)

MYM(L)14

 

Halloween

\------------------

Contrary to popular belief, the four Marauders did not spend all day, every day, planning out their pranks. Those took at most two hours, if they were having trouble with a particularly tricky bit of spellwork. 

No, most of their days were spent lounging around the Gryffindor Common Room, exploring the castle, and preventing James from doing something absolutely ridiculous to get Lily Evans' attention.

Halloween consisted mainly of stopping James. Well, trying to at least.

Remus woke up the morning of October thirty-first, and took a deep breath, feeling the extra magic in the air. Samhain had arrived, and with it, extraordinary levels of energy from everyone in the castle. The other boys who occupied his dorm were already awake and bouncing off the walls, save one.

Harry lay still in bed, his curtains slightly open, but his blanket pulled up to cover his head. Ron sat on the bed next to him, tying his shoes, but glancing up worriedly every few seconds.

"Morning, Ron. Sleep well?" Remus asked, rubbing his eyes.

Ron looked over in surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah, I slept fine. I woke up a couple of times because of the magic, but other than that it was a restful night." He smiled at Remus for a moment before turning back to Harry.

"Is Harry sick?"

Ron shook his head. "No, he just gets like this on Halloween. It's a rough day for him." He looked back at Remus. "What classes do we have today? Anything terribly important? At least in the morning?"

Remus shook his head. "We have Herbology this morning, and then History of Magic. As long as we come get him after lunch he should be fine."

"Thanks, Remus." Ron reached for his bag and dug around for a moment, before pulling out a ripped piece of parchment and a quill. He scribbled something on it, and left it on the nightstand between his and Harry's beds. 

Ron shouldered his bag, and with a wave at Remus, left the dorm. Remus got out of his bed and started his morning routine, it was only when he exited the bathroom that he glanced at the note, wondering what it said.

He looked over at Harry's prone form, he hadn't moved at all since Remus had got up. He looked between Harry and the note, before making a decision. He walked as quietly as he could over between the beds, and gently lifted the note off the table. Looking once more at Harry to make sure he was still asleep, Remus read it.

Harry,

I know today is a tough one, but we came here to fix it. That halloween isn't going to happen this time, not if I have anything to say about it. They're here, they're alive, and if you come down for lunch you'll see that.

They aren't going to die this time, mate. Hermione and I won't let it happen.

See you at lunch,

Ron.

Remus stared at the piece of parchment, astounded. Who isn't going to die? What did Ron mean by 'this time'? 'We came here to fix it.'? What did that even mean? 

Heart beating a little faster, Remus took out his wand and made a quick duplicate of the note, stuffing it in his pocket. He put the original back on the table and backed out of the room.

\-----------------------------------

Entering the Great Hall, Remus spotted James standing up, all of his attention focused on where Lily, Hermione, and Ron sat a little ways down the table. Remus walked quickly, and before james could move around the table, Remus had his hands on his shoulders, pushing him back into his seat.

James looked up, startled. "Remus! What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making a fool out of yourself, unlike some people I could mention." He threw a pointed look at Sirius and Peter.

Sirius grinned and held out his hand to Peter. "Pay up, Wormy."

Remus snorted and sat down. "What was the bet this time, how soon it would take Prongs to make a fool out of himself in front of Lily?"

"No," Peter said dejectedly, "it was when he did end up trying whether you would get down here in enough time to stop him."

"I, obviously, bet on you, love." Sirius said, winking. Remus rolled his eyes.

"You only bet on him because I wasn't fast enough to do it first." Peter argued.

"You have to work on your reaction time, Wormtail." James said. "How are you going to be Keeper next year if your reaction time is slow?"

"Oh please, like there aren't going to be a million better candidates trying out." Peter said, resting his forehead on the table. 

"You'll never know if you don't try, Peter." Remus said. "You very well could be the best person for the job. Just make sure to practice."

"Practice. Right." Peter looked down the table. "Hey, Ron! You play Quidditch?"

Ron glanced over, pausing his conversation with Lily and Hermione. "Yeah, why?"

"You gonna try out for the team next year?"

Ron shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know."

Now James was curious. "What position do you play?"

"Keeper." Ron grinned.

Peter groaned and laid his head back on the table. "Great. Just peachy."

"C'mon, Wormy, you don't even know if he's any good." Sirius said, patting Peter on the back.

"I have no chance." Peter grumbled.

Remus sighed. There was no helping Peter once he got into one of his moods, you just had to wait them out. 

"I, uh, found something interesting in the dormitory this morning." He said.

James and Sirius' eyes got wide as they looked at Remus, and he could practically hear their praying that is wasn't whatever prank material they planned on using tonight.

"No, you dolts, it was a note." Remus said, and he watched as James and Sirius let out identical sighs of relief.

"What's so interesting about a note?" James asked.

"Is it from a giirrl?" Sirius sang, looking down at Peter. "Does Wormy have a girlfriend?"

That caused Peter to groan louder, and Remus stifled his laugh. "No, it wasn't for him." He glanced down the table at Ron and lowered his voice. "Harry wouldn't get out of bed this morning, so Ron left him this note." He pulled it out of his pocket and handed it under the table to James, who read it and passed it to Sirius, who passed it to Peter.

"They aren't going to die this time?" James whispered, looking mildly frightened. "Who died? Did they bring someone back to life?" 

"What, you think a bunch of muggleborns learned Necromancy before coming to Hogwarts?" Sirius whispered back.

"Where would they even find the books for that? Surely not in Flourish and Blotts." Peter said.

"I don't think they're necromancers." Remus said. "Look at the rest of it, 'they're here, they're alive' and 'we came here to fix it'. It's like they know someone is going to die soon, and they're going to try and stop it."

"So, you think they're Seers. Or at least one of them is." Sirius stated.

"It would make sense, wouldn't it? How they seem to know things they shouldn't?" Remus whispered.

"I don't know Remus, Divination is a really imprecise branch of magic." James said.

Peter snorted. "You're only saying that because McGonagall says that, and you want to be just like her when you grow up."

"I am not just saying it because Minnie did! And theres nothing wrong with wanting to be like her, she is a formidable witch." James said.

"I think Evans can breathe easy, because James has a crush on McGonagall." Sirius laughed.

"I do not! I do not have a crush on McGonagall!" James said, indignantly. "Stop laughing, the three of you, it's not funny."

"Don't forget to ask her to Hogsmeade for Valentines, Prongs." Remus laughed.

"And make sure to get here something nice for Yule, girls like stuff like that." Peter said, as seriously as he could muster with Sirius and Remus clutching their sides with laughter.

"I don't have a crush on McGonagall!"

\-----------------------------------------------

Light shined through Harry's eyelids, making him reluctant to open his eyes. He knew what day it was, and he was beginning to think James and Lily being somewhere in the castle where he could actually interact with them was worse than just having a photo album.

Especially since Lily...

Since Lily found out, she had been either avoiding Harry like the plague, or following him constantly, gauging his every move. 

It was beginning to be creepy.

Harry wasn't sure he could handle that, today of all days.

Halloween, the day a madman decided to take everything from him. The day a madman destroyed his family and took away his chance at a loving home.

A chance at having a family that actually cared.

Harry wasn't sure coming back in time was such a good idea after all. Maybe he was just going to cause more harm than good, being here.

Maybe, because he ends up saving his family, someone else loses theirs.

Harry groans and rolls over, burying his face into his pillow and throwing his arm on his bedside table in search of his glasses. His hand crunched a piece of parchment, and he set it aside, still in search of his glasses.

Finding them, Harry sat slowly up in bed, and slid his glasses on his face, bringing the world into slightly better focus. He looked at his nightstand and picked up the small slip of parchment laying there, and read Ron's note. 

'They aren't going to die this time.' If only Harry could be sure that was true, maybe he could pull himself out of bed.

But the future is uncertain. Even for a time traveler. Who knows what he's changed since being here already.

Maybe Voldemort...maybe he won't even go after the Potters anymore. Maybe Harry's presence in the past, in 1975, changes the prophecy.

Maybe Harry's being there just screws up some other family's life instead of his.

Harry launched himself out of bed, and got dressed as fast as possible, looking between the clock and Ron's note.

'See you at lunch.'

\--------------------------------------

Harry barrelled into the Great Hall, drawing many eyes to his disheveled appearance as his tripped his way to the Gryffindor table.

Hermione and Ron stood up immediately, and Harry didn't even have to say a word before they were following him out of the Great Hall.

"Guys, I think we made a huge mistake coming here." Harry blurted out as soon as they were past the doors.

"Harry what do you mean?" Hermione asked. "We're here to save everyone, that can't be a mistake."

"Yes, but what if saving everyone we love just causes other people to be hurt instead! What if, by being here, we changed the prophecy and he goes after another family, instead of mine! Us being here could very well have destroyed another child's life just like mine was." Harry said. He looked between the two of them frantically.

"Harry-"

"No Ron! I don't know how I could live with myself if-if...especially after I just, abandoned Teddy! What kind of godfather am I, that I just leave my infant godson all alone? When he just lost his family? I made him lose more family, Ron." Harry's eyes gleamed with unshed tears as he looked at his friends.

"What if I ruined someone else's life because I wanted to fix my own? I don't think I could live with myself." He squeezed his eyes shut, and so was surprised when Hermione launched herself at him and wrapped him in the tightest hug she could manage. 

"Wanting to help people, Harry, is not a bad thing. Wanting to save people isn't a bad thing. You never know what is going to happen, everything is constantly changing. Anything someone else does, none of that is your fault." She said.

Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "And besides, even if Tom does decide to go after someone else, that's what we're here for too. We know his secrets, Harry." Ron grinned. "We can beat him before he really has begun."

"And anyway, you didn't leave Teddy alone. He has Andromeda, and the other Weasleys, and the whole Order who are going to love and take care of him. Besides, one of the main reasons we're here is so Teddy doesn't have to grow up not knowing his parents." Hermione said. "We're here for a good reason, Harry. And we are going to try our hardest to make sure everyone, and I don't just mean the people we personally love. I mean everyone, is going to survive this. We're the greatest wizards and witch of our generation. How many things have we done that we were told were impossible?"

"Just about every one that we could, I'd say. Impossible just doesn't seem like a word we can comprehend." Ron said.

"Nothing is impossible, Harry. We're going to beat Tom, and save the entire world. Because that is just what we do." Hermione released Harry from her tight grip, and looked him in the eye. "Right?"

"How could I disagree with the brightest witch of the age?" Harry said, pulling her back in for another hug, and dragging Ron into it too. 

"Thank you both. You always seem to know what to say."

"Well, we have known each other for eight years. We were bound to pick something up." Ron said.

"Now, let's get you some food before we go brave McGonagall. Oh hey, you might not even have to worry about your family because I hear James is in love with McGonagall." Hermione said, as they passed James at the Gryffindor table.

"I'm not in love with McGonagall!" James shouted.


	16. Holiday Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily didn't know what to do. McGonagall was going around with the holiday sign up sheet, and Lily wasn't sure if she was staying or going. Petunia wouldn't answer her letters, even when she sent them the Muggle way.
> 
> And even if she had, Lily wasn't sure she actually wanted to go home.
> 
> To spend her first Christmas without her parents...Lily wasn't sure she could handle it.

MYM(L)15

\----------------------------

Lily didn't know what to do. McGonagall was going around with the holiday sign up sheet, and Lily wasn't sure if she was staying or going. Petunia wouldn't answer her letters, even when she sent them the Muggle way.

And even if she had, Lily wasn't sure she actually wanted to go home.

To spend her first Christmas without her parents...Lily wasn't sure she could handle it.

But what about Petunia? Even if her sister didn't think she wanted her there, she couldn't just leave her alone for the holidays. Lily scanned the Great Hall, hoping an answer would jump out at her from the ancient stone.

Nothing did, and she groaned, dropping her head onto the table.

Someone sat next to her.

"Hey Lily. Something the matter?"

Lily's eyes widened and she lifted her head quickly to look at the girl sitting next to her. "Hermione! You're perfect!"

Hermione's cheeks darkened. "I wouldn't say perfect necessarily-"

"Will you spend the holiday with me? Please?" Lily pleaded. "I don't think I can stand being with just my sister for Christmas. And besides! You know the Muggle world, you're the perfect person, please Hermione, I'm begging you."

Hermione bit her lip. "I don't know, Lily. The Potter's already asked if we'd spend the holiday with them, and I don't think Dorea will let me cancel."

Lily looked at Hermione and felt the sheer amount of dread creeping up on her. "I'll...I'lll talk to... to James." She forced out.

Lily groaned and dropped her head back onto the table. "Great."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------

"James, may I speak to you for a moment?"

James stopped in the doorway to the Transfiguration classroom, Sirius bumping into him from behind, knocking him off balance. "Lily!" James exclaimed, quickly righting himself. "Yes, of course, of course, yes, of course." He grinned and followed her, shoving Sirius away when he tried to come along. 

They stopped a little ways down the hallway, and Lily turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.

For a moment they just stared at each other, before James cleared his throat. "Uh, Lily?"

She took a deep breath. "I was wondering if your parents would be okay with me taking Hermione to my house for Christmas Holiday."

James raised his eyebrows. "Yeah of course they would be. I'll just tell them Hermione made a friend and wanted to spend the hols with them, which isn't even really a lie. You are her friend so..." He trailed off and looked at her strangely. "Don't you have a sister? Wouldn't it be better to just spend the holiday with her since, uh, well. You know?"

Lily bristled. "Who I want to spend my holiday with is no business of yours, James Potter, I was just being polite since she was you r guest first. And for your information the only reason I'm going home for the holiday is for my sister, otherwise I would be staying here at Hogwarts. Thank you for allowing me Hermione, goodbye."

She spun on her heel and walked the opposite direction from James.

"See you later then!" James called after her.

\---------------------------------------------------

James sat down at the Gryffindor table and started filling his plate with food. "Lily yelled at me."

"And this is different from any other day, how?" Remus asked, resulting in snickers from everyone around them.

"Well she yelled at me, but I think she's actually upset with something else that's not me? I don't know, it was weird." He shook his head. "By the way, Hermione, Lily asked if you could spend the hols with her, if that's okay with you?"

Hermione smiled, "Yes, she asked me before she asked you. I don't think she wants to be alone with her sister for two weeks."

"Why not, doesn't she like her sister?" Peter asked.

"I think," Harry said quietly, "it's not so much that she doesn't like her sister, it's that she's afraid her sister is going to blame her."

"Blame her for what, what has Lily done?" Peter looked at Harry, confused.

"It's not so much what she's done, as what she is." Ron replied.

"What she is? Does her sister have something against gingers?"

"No, Peter it's because she's a witch, and their parents..." Harry trailed off and sighed. "Anyway, I hope you have a good time, 'Mione."

"Why wouldn't she have a good time, she gets to spend two weeks alone with Evans, which I know has been Prongs' dream since third year." Sirius knocked his shoulder against James' and winked.

James rolled his eyes. "Shove off, Sirius."

"Oh no, you're absolutely right, it's McGonagall James wants to spend alone time with."

"For the last time, I'm not in love with McGonagall!" James protested over loud laughter. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Classes ended and Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the last day before they left for break sitting under a tree by the lake. Ron and Harry were trying to see who could levitate a leaf the highest without hitting any tree branches, while Hermione was just staring blankly across the water. Ron cheered when Harry's leaf clipped a branch and was sent spiraling to the ground. Harry cursed and shoved a laughing Ron away from him. Ron fell over, but continued laughing. Harry rolled his eyes and grinned at the other boy, before looking over at Hermione.

"Hermione? Something the matter?"

Ron stopped laughing and sat up quickly. "Yeah, 'Mione you've got your Big Thinking face on, what's up?"

She shook her head, her curls scattering wildly around her face. "It's nothing, really. I'm just not sure how I'm going to deal with Petunia for the next two weeks."

"At least you're not related to her." Harry said.

"There is that." Hermione smiled for a moment before it fell again. "It's just...I know who she becomes and how she treated you Harry, and I know she can't have treated Lily really any better. I just don't know how I'm going to go two weeks without cursing her."

"Well, I'd say just avoid her at all costs." Ron suggested.

"It's what I used to do, it works most of the time, if she's not actively looking for you." Harry agreed.

"And I don't see why she'd be actively looking for you, since she doesn't know you." Ron said.

"So avoiding her is my only option?" Hermione asked.

"Pretty much." Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, 'Mione. It's only two weeks."

\---------------------------------------------------------

"It's only two weeks." Lily muttered to herself, as she and Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express behind Harry and Ron. Hermione looked back at her and smiled. Lily tried to smile back, and sighed when Hermione turned around.

The train ride was uneventful, and when they got off, Harry and Ron hugged Hermione and Lily goodbye before going off to join the Potters. 

"That must be nice for Harry." Lily said.

"Hm?" Hermione followed her line of sight. "Oh, the Potters? Yeah, it's a completely new experience for him. He had never met them before this sumer."

"Do you remember what...happens to them?" Lily asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Harry never asked, and no one ever told him. It didn't feel right for me to look it up and just spring on him, so I never did."

"I still can't get over the fact that you guys just, came back in time."

"Well, we're not exactly new to the whole time travel thing." Lily's eyes widened. "But, that's a story for a time when we aren't standing on a platform full of wizards who could turn us in."

"Right. Let's go find Petunia."

\-----------------------------------------------------

They found her standing impatiently outside the barrier to the platform, with a large man who looked very familiar to Hermione.

"Finally, it took you long enough. Who's this?" Petunia snapped.

Lily stared at her sister. "Could you be ruder, Tuney?"

She rolled her eyes. "Hello dear sister, how have you been, who is your friend?" Petunia said in a falsely sweet voice.

"This is Hermione Granger. She's going to spend the holiday with us. Who is your friend?" Lily asked.

"This is Vernon." Petunia said, and Hermione choked. "Vernon Dursley." Petunia said over Hermione's now violent coughing. 

"Hermione are you okay?" Lily asked.

Hermione straighted and nodded at Lily. She stared at Vernon and Petunia and she could see them standing in the exact same positions to pick Harry up from school, and felt lightly nauseous. Hermione would do anything for that not to happen again.

"Do you have your things?" Petunia asked.

Lily glanced purposefully at the two large trunks laying at their feet. "Yes, Tuney, we have our things."

"Good. Let's go." Petunia turned and walked away, with Vernon trailing behind her.

"No, that's okay we don't need any help!" Lily called after her. Petunia kept walking. Lily shook her head and spotted a trolley. She pulled it closer to them and helped Hermione load their trunks onto it. "C'mon, we better catch up before we lose them completely."

As they jogged after them, Lily turned to Hermione. "So, you know Vernon?"

"Unfortunately." 

\------------------------------------------------------

Potter Manor had been completely bedecked for the holidays, and Harry was reminded inexplicably of Hogwarts. 

It was just James, Sirius, Harry, and Ron for Christmas, as Peter and Remus had their own families to celebrate with. Though, they would be joining them for the New Year.

"Alight, you lot. Put your things away and then meet me in the kitchen. We have things to do." Dorea said, clapping her hands. "Get to it."

The four boys dragged their trunks upstairs, shoving each other and laughing.

"What does your mum have for us to do in the kitchen?" Ron asked.

"Oh she gets really into Muggle Christmas traditions, so we're probably going to be baking and decorating cookies." James smiled fondly as they reached the hallways with their rooms. "Better put your trunks away and hightail it down there, because the longer we take, the more likely she is to curse us."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks while Sirius laughed. 

Shoving their trunks just inside their doors, Harry and Ron started back downstairs when they heard James and Sirius whispering in Sirius' room.

"What would Dad know about it anyway, Sirius? There's no reason to bother him with the note, we don't even know what it means." James whispered.

"Yeah, that's why we'd tell him about it! So we could find out. Aren't you curious as to what Ron meant by 'no one has to die this time.'?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other, faces pale. Carefully, they crept away from the door and down the stairs. Harry quickly pulled Ron into the sitting room, and whispered, "How do they know about the note, was anyone in the dorm when you wrote it?"

Ron shook his head. "No there- well there was Remus, but could it really have been him? Isn't he Mr. Respect Everyone's Privacy?"

"I don't know how they could have found out, otherwise." Harry looked up at Ron. "Is it bad that I sort of want them to figure it out?"

"Of course not. They are your family, after all." Ron smiled at him softly and reached out and squeezed his hand. "But we can't let them. Not yet, not without at least talking to Hermione first. It's bad enough Lily knows."

Harry squeezed back. "But she doesn't know everything."

"No she doesn't. Now we should probably get to the kitchen before Mrs. Potter comes and gives us a good reminder of Ginny. Have you heard Sirius talk about her Bat Bogey Hex?" 

Harry laughed and they entered the kitchen to see Tibby the house elf scolding James and Sirius who both had icing smeared across their faces. 

\---------------------------------------------------

Hermione was glad she never really spoke to Petunia back in their time, because she didn't think she would've been able to restrain herself from hexing her and breaking underage magic laws.

Some of the things that came out of that woman's mouth were absolutely vile and Hermione felt a fresh rush of anger at Dumbledore for leaving Harry with these people every time she spoke.

"Can you not leave your disgusting books laying around, Freak, Vernon is going to be here any minute, and I don't want him thinking they're mine and that I'm the freak." Petunia sniped, tossing a potions book into Lily's lap. 

She scoffed and muttered under her breath, "It's not like he's ever seen a book before, anyways. He probably wouldn't even know what it is."

"What did you say?" 

Lily looked up at her sister, who was standing with her hands on her hips. "Nothing at all, dear sister."

"Good, it's probably better you and your freak friend try to speak as little as possible when he's here anyway. We wouldn't want him to think there is something unnatural about you, and me by association." Petunia said, staring into the hall mirror and straightening her top.

Hermione stared at her, face incredulous. She opened her mouth to tell her off, but felt Lily's hand on her arm. She was looking at her sister. "It won't matter how much we talk because we aren't going to be here for dinner. We're going out." She said as she handed Hermione her jacket. "And by the way, Tuney, if you want me to be kind to your guest, you should try being kind to mine. What would...what would Mum say if she heard you?"

Petunia's face paled. "You, you do not get to talk about her." She said, her voice shaking.

"They were my parents too, Petunia."

"You're the reason they're dead!" 

The room went deadly silent. Petunia's face was red in anger, her hands curled into fists at her sides. Hermione looked at Lily, and her heart broke at the tears streaming down her face. She looked back at Petunia, and was about to shout, when the doorbell rang. 

The three of them whipped their heads toward the door, where a hulking mass could be seen through the frosted glass. 

Quickly, Hermione grabbed Lily's hand and side along Apparated them away.

\--------------------------------------------

The four boys looked up from their game of Exploding Snap when they heard a knock on the front door. Harry and Ron exchanged looks, and silently slipped their wands from their pockets. 

They heard the door open, and the squeaky voice of a House Elf saying something excitedly. A moment later, a lightly disheveled Hermione and Lily walked into the room. 

"Hello," Hermione said, quietly, "would you mind terribly if we stayed the rest of the holiday here?"

James jumped to his feet anxiously and looked at Lily. "Of course not. Do you have your things?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, we left in rather a hurry."

James looked at Hermione sharply, and she just shook her head. "I'm going to take Lily up to my room. She needs a bit of time alone." 

The four boys nodded. "I'll send an elf for your things, and have them sent up for you." James said.

"Thank you, James." Hermione led Lily up the stairs and out of sight.

As soon as they were out of earshot the boys looked at each other.

"What do you think happened?" Sirius asked.

"It was probably something to do with her sister, right?" James looked at Harry.

"Why are you asking me, I wasn't there." He said indignantly. "Hermione will tell us when she comes back down, let's just keep playing."

They went back to their game, but Hermione didn't come back down. 

An hour passed and James sighed. "I'm going to go tell my parents the girls are here." He stood and sluggishly made his way from the room. The other three boys stared after him.

"Wouldn't the House Elf who answered the door have told them already?" Ron asked.

"For being a pureblood, you'd think James would remember that magic exists, but alas. Here we are." Sirius sighed dramatically.

\------------------------------------------

Christmas morning came, and every person currently residing in Potter Manor piled into the family room. Presents were stacked under the tree because, as Mrs. Potter put it, "Christmas is a time for family and I want to see the looks on all of your faces when you open my presents to you, so get your butts downstairs."

Harry and Ron sat on the floor in front of Hermione and Lily, who were both wrapped in blankets on the sofa. James and Sirius both headed for the tree and started passing presents out, and Tibby the house elf came in with a tray of hot cocoa. 

Harry looked around the room, at the faces of his family. James and Sirius were throwing wrapping paper at each other and Mr. and Mrs. Potter were laughing at them. Lily was whispering to Hermione and making her burst out laughing, and Ron was looking at him.

"Is it everything you dreamed it would be?" He asked quietly. 

Harry looked into Ron's blue eyes and said, "It's more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy September 1st everyone! I haven't been really feeling this story lately which is why its taken me so long to update, but I won't abandon this story because even though it may be tough to write sometimes, its my baby and I love it. Also I have big plans for the end of it so we have to get there first! I just really wanted to get Christmas over and done with so I can do some time jumps, so sorry if this felt a bit rushed. 
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll try to get the next one out when I can. Thanks for reading, be sure to leave a comment!


	17. Exams and Wars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You both know we've all already taken and passed our O.W.Ls right? And with the equivalent of two more years of schooling, and some months working at the Ministry, and you two are nervous about a fifth year exam."
> 
> "I don't like taking tests." Harry muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dudes! Long time no see! I hope you enjoy this chapter <3

MYM(L)16

Exams and Wars

\--------------------------------

Harry jiggled his wand nervously in his hand, staring at the entrance to the Great Hall. Hermione sat on the floor next to him, paging through a book frantically, while Ron was leaning against the wall, laughing.

"What's so funny, Ron?" Harry asked, agitated.

"It's just..." He shook his head and pushed off the wall, coming closer. "You both know we've all already taken and passed our O.W.Ls right? And with the equivalent of two more years of schooling, and some months working at the Ministry, and you two are nervous about a fifth year exam."

"I don't like taking tests." Harry muttered.

Hermione didn't even acknowledge that Ron said anything, just flipped faster through her book. Ron nudged her knee with his toe. "Hermione..." He said in a sing-song. "Just think, this is finally your chance to beat Harry's DADA score."

Her hands stilled, and she looked up slowly at both of them. Closing her book, she rose and dusted herself off. Stepping in close to Harry, Hermione put her face right next to his ear and whispered, "You're going down, Potter."

Ron burst out laughing, and Harry grinned. "I'd like to see you try, Granger."

Snickering, Ron said, "Sorry mate, but I have to bet on Hermione here. There's no way you can win when she gets that determined look."

Harry scoffed and shoved him, right as the test practitioner called out, "Granger, Harry. Granger, Hermione. Granger, Ron."

Harry looked at his two friends. "Best of luck. Try not to fail too badly, eh Hermione?"

She glared at him. "You're going to pay for that later."

Laughing, the trio walked into the Great Hall.

\--------------------------------------------

Collapsing on the grass underneath a large beech tree, Ron groaned. "I'm so glad those are over I never want to take any kind of standardized test ever again."

Harry kicked his knee and Ron scooted over, making room for Harry to lay next to him. "We could always drop out, and never have to go to another class ever again." He suggested.

"Oh please, you two barely know how to function without the structure of school." Hermione said from the lake embankment. "You'd forget to feed yourselves and die within the month."

"Hermione, this is Ron we're talking about. When has he ever forgotten a meal in his life?"

She rolled her eyes and splashed water back at them. Both boys shouted and rolled out of the way of her second blast. Scrambling to their feet, they kicked their shoes and socks off and waded in the water after Hermione. Ron and Harry kicked up water at her and she shrieked, leaping at them and trying to pull them down into the water.

Hermione and Ron looked at each other, and while Harry was bending down to splash them with his hands, Hermione whipped out her wand.

'Levicorpus!' she thought, and Harry was yanked into the air by his ankle.

"Hey! Whoa, Hermione! Unsportsmanlike conduct!" He shouted.

She laughed, "I told you you'd pay later for the failing comment. Now," she put one hand on her hip, "take it back and tell me I'm the smartest person you know, and that you could never hope to surpass my exam score."

"Hermione!"

"You have ten seconds..."

"'Mione, c'mon.."

"Ten, nine, eight..."

"Harry, I'd tell her or you're going to get pretty wet very soon." Ron said.

"Five, four, three..."

"OKAY, I take back what I said about you failing, you're the smartest person I know and I could never hope to surpass your exam score." Harry said quickly.

Hermione smiled. "Glad to hear it." She said, and promptly canceled the spell, dumping Harry into the water below. Ron bent double laughing as Harry resurfaced, sputtering.

"Hermione!"

"I never said I wasn't going to drop you in, you just assumed."

Harry nodded slowly, his eyes gaining a mischievous glint. "That's okay, 'Mione. How about a hug in apology?" He opened his arms and started walking towards her. Her eyes widened and she yelped, dashing out of the water with Harry hot on her heels.

"I just want a hug, Hermione!"

"You stay away from me, Harry!"

Ron sat back under the tree and smiled fondly at them, running in circles around the great lawn, laughing. Back in their time, Ron never thought he'd miss school, but now he never wanted to leave. They were getting to be the kids that the war stole from them, and he knew that as soon as they walked out of the train station and left for the summer, they wouldn't get to be kids anymore.

\-------------------------------------------

War was a terrible thing, Harry thought, as they exited Platform 9 and 3/4 into Kings Cross station. The station was practically empty, even on the Muggle side. Everyone could sense the fear and danger in the air, and no one wanted to venture out and risk being hurt.

James and Sirius looked around the station nervously, before they led the group towards a waiting car.

Charlus Potter rolled down the window as they got closer. "Everyone pile in, quickly. We don't want to be here longer than we must."

All five children climbed into the backseat and settled in comfortably. Well, mostly. Harry had climbed in last, after Hermione, and half of his personal space was taken up by her hair.

"Hey, 'Mione," Harry said, "ever thought of shaving your head?"

She turned toward him slowly, smiling sweetly. "Have you?"

Ron snorted on her other side. "Trust me, 'Mione, you don't want to see Harry with a shaved head. You'll have nightmares for weeks, it's so funny shaped."

"Oi!" Harry reached around and smacked Ron on the chest. "You're one to talk, Mr. Touch-My-Hair-And-Die."

"Hey, it takes a long time to make it look like this." Ron defended.

"Jeez," James said, "no wonder you and Sirius get on so well."

"How do you know how Harry looks with his head shaved?" Hermione asked, looking between them curiously.

Harry and Ron looked at each other, and quickly looked away, so they wouldn't burst out laughing.

"So, uh, Mr. Potter, how's work been?" Harry asked, trying to change the subject.

"Charlus, Harry, and it is....difficult at work at the moment." Charlus replied.

"Why difficult, Dad? Did something happen?" James asked.

"This would be a conversation better held at home, I would think." Charlus said.

All five teenagers looked at each other warily, and settled into a tense, uncomfortable silence for the rest of the ride.

\-------------------------------------------

After arriving at Potter Manor, they all piled into the living room, collapsing into chairs and couches while Charlus went to find Dorea.

"What do you think happened?" Sirius whispered as soon as Charlus left the room.

"What use is it speculating when he's going to tell us when he gets back in here?" James replied, flopping sideways so his head landed in Sirius' lap. "It can't be anything too horrible or it would've been in the papers."

"When was the last time you read anything other than the Quidditch column, James?" Hermione asked.

"That's completely besides the point, Hermione."

"And anyway," Charlus interrupted as he walked back into the room, "this happened today while you were all on the train. It hasn't had the chance to be in the paper."

James pushed himself upright, and all the kids sat up straighter. "What happened, Dad?"

Charlus looked at Dorea, who had walked in behind him. She gave him a smile and nodded, squeezing his arm gently.

He looked back at the kids, taking a deep breath.

"There was an attack at the Ministry."

Hermione sucked in a breath, and James and Sirius leapt from their seats.

"What, how, what happened?" Both boys attempted to speak over the other, panicking.

"Boys, sit down, and listen." Dorea snapped. Both their mouths clamped shut and they slowly lowered themselves back onto the couch. "Thank you." She said.

Harry looked at his grandfather. "How did it happen?"

"They had spies. People who had infiltrated nearly every department, and it seems they were given a signal today, so they attacked. They went for all the department heads."

"But..." James looked lost. "Dad, you're a department head. You're Head Auror."

"Were you...were you attacked today?" Hermione whispered.

Charlus looked at her. "Yes. And we have two Death Eaters in custody because of it."

"You took on two Death Eaters by yourself?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes. But they knew what they were doing. They knew who to keep distracted so they could get what they really wanted." Charlus looked down.

James frowned. "What do you mean, what did they really want?"

Charlus looked up at his son, and opened his mouth to respond, but Ron cut him off.

"Not a what...but a who. They got who they really wanted, didn't they?"

Charlus nodded. James and Sirius looked back and forth between the two, confused. "What does that mean?" Sirius asked.

"It means," Charlus said, "that the Minister For Magic is dead."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dunnn  
> The Minister is DEAD! Crazy. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, it just felt right to end it there. And anyways I'm planning on 17 being like ridiculously long because I refuse to do what happens in it in more than one chapter because I want this story to actually end around 20 chapters. I'm planning on posting the Thursday after next, so I have a little over two weeks before I give you permission to come scream and yell at me on any platform you wish. If I don't make this deadline that is.
> 
> Also never fear, it's just Meeting Your Maker thats ending around chapter 20, because the story will continue in the sequel which I've named but am considering changing so I won't tell you just yet. I always planned on ending this one at the end of sixth year and having the sequel be seventh year and beyond. This is a really long note I'm sorry I just wanted to give you guys some info.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next week :)


	18. Unanswered Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the first few days of their summer vacation lounging around, being extremely grateful that they weren't in school, and for Tibby's chocolate chip biscuits. But then, Charlus came to them with a request.
> 
> "I'd like you three to go on a mission for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey dudes! Here we are :) I have a love/hate relationship with this chapter, so I hope you guys like it.
> 
> I know what you're thinking. "Wow Emily! Another update only two weeks after the last and actually when you said it would be up? That's insane!" I know. It's nuts. But I was up until 6AM last night finishing this chapter just so I could actually put it out today. It's all a great fun time and I hope you enjoy!

MYM(L)17

\--------------

"Did this happen? The first time?" Ron whispered.

The Trio was huddled together on Harry's bed, the only light coming from their wands laying in a pile on the mattress in front of them.

"Bagnold dying? No, it can't have. She was Minister for a few more years, at least." Hermione said.

"Yeah, she was Minister when Sirius was sent to Azkaban, remember? It was her and Crouch. So originally she didn't die until after nineteen eighty-one." Harry said. "I wonder what changed."

"I mean, it's kind of obvious what changed. We did. Something about our being here has changed things." Ron replied.

They sat in silence for a while, all three thinking over the fact that it was their presence that got people killed.

Harry flopped back onto his pillows, staring up at the ceiling. They had come back to stop people from dying, not just to make different people die. All of it was his fault. If he hadn't been selfish and gone back in time, Minister Bagnold would still be alive for another six years, at least. She lost six years of her life because of him. All because he wanted his parents back.

"Hey."

Ron crawled up the bed and hung his face an inch from Harry's. "This isn't your fault. None of it, okay?"

"But if we hadn't come back-"

"No, Harry. That doesn't matter. It's not your fault, because it will always be Voldemort's. None of the blame can rest on you, because you are not Tom Riddle. Do you understand me?"

"Ron-"

"Do you understand me, Harry?"

"Yes! Bloody hell, I understand you, how could I not, you're a literal inch from my face." Harry laughed.

Ron grinned. "Do you want me to move?"

Harry smiled up at him. "Not particularly."

"Well I do!" Hermione said, shoving Ron to the side. "Budge up, you're hogging all space."

Ron snorted and rolled over onto his back next to Harry. Harry looked at Hermione, and smiled, bemused. "You know, you could go lay in your own bed."

"Oh please, like we'd leave you here alone after what happened."

"Yeah nice try, Harry." Ron yawned, rolling back toward Harry, throwing his arm over him and patting Hermione on the face.

"Ron!" She tossed her leg over Harry's to try and kick Ron's, but he wiggled out of the way.

They both left their various limbs strewn across Harry, and he sighed. "Can we at least put on pajamas first?"

\--------------------------------------------

Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the first few days of their summer vacation lounging around, being extremely grateful that they weren't in school, and for Tibby's chocolate chip biscuits. But then, Charlus came to them with a request.

"I'd like you three to go on a mission for me."

The trio exchanged looks. "A mission?" Harry asked.

Charlus cleared his throat. "Yes. A mission. I'd need you to go undercover somewhere."

"Why can't any of your Aurors do it?" Hermione asked.

"Because they're all too old. And they have concealment revealing charms encasing the place. It's a recruitment event. Secret. Invitation only. And only for under seventeens." Charlus said. "And technically, you three are."

Ron furrowed his brow. "You don't think they'd detect a de-aging potion?"

"Not like the one we took, no." Harry shook his head. "One, it hasn't actually been invented yet, and two it's permanent. And three, the actual potion has been out of our systems for months."

"You actually researched it?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled at her. "Of course. I channeled my inner Hermione."

She rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Charlus. "You said it's invitation only. You have some?"

Charlus nodded and pulled three pieces of heavy parchment out of his pocket. "We captured the owls before they had a chance to deliver them. We've put each of your names on them, so be sure you have yours." He handed the small stack to Harry, and he looked at each card inscribed with 'Harry', 'Ron', and 'Hermione' in fancy script. Charlus continued. "The event is not until next week, so I have given you some time to prepare. We're having new robes made, so you won't be out of place."

"What are we meant to do when we get there?" Hermione asked.

"This is a reconnaissance mission. You are only there to gather information, you are under no circumstances to engage with anyone. Follow the lead of the children surrounding you. If they are not talking to anyone, you do not talk to anyone. You are there to observe and blend in." Charlus ordered.

The Trio looked at each other, and they were all thinking the same thing.

Since when has anyone telling them to do something Exactly This Way And Not Any Other ever worked out for the better?

Harry let out a breath and looked back at Charlus. "Will anyone we know be there?"

"Children from prominent Pureblood families and their ilk."

Harry and Ron looked at each and Hermione stared at Charlus. She moved forward on the couch till she was perched on the edge, and started throwing rapid fire questions at him. Charlus, for his part, seemed to be listening intently and answering when he could.

Harry took the opportunity to talk to Ron.

"So, strategist, what do you think?"

"Well," Ron started, "there will definitely be kids from school there, probably mostly Slytherins but potentially from other houses. They're recruiting, which can't be good."

"You think they're planning something? Something they need more people for?" Harry asked.

"I don't know about more people so much as new people. Why recruit kids who probably don't even have their OWLs yet?"

Hermione stopped her questions and looked at them, her eyes narrowed and far away. "Maybe...maybe it's not about the kids at all. Maybe it's about the parents."

Harry frowned at her. "You mean, Voldemort is recruiting kids so that their parents will obey him easier?" He paused and looked between them both. "Like Malfoy."

Hermione nodded. "Exactly like Malfoy."

"Except," Ron said, "except he recruited Malfoy and set him Dumbledore to get back at the git's parents for disobeying and failing him. If it's only children of Death Eaters at this meeting..."

"We'll stick out like sore thumbs." Harry muttered.

Hermione stood abruptly and started toward the stairs. Ron called after her.

"'Mione, I don't think you'll be able to look up who's going to be there in the library."

She turned at the bottom of the stairs to face them. "Maybe not this one."

"I doubt Hogwarts has anything either."

She smirked at them and turned to Charlus. "Is there anyway you can find out who is going to be there? And get me a list?"

"I can certainly try. But you won't find if their parents are actually Death Eaters in any library." Charlus said.

Her smirk grew until it was a full-blown grin. "Don't worry, I have my own. And it's portable." She whirled around and climbed the staircase, leaving them dumbfounded behind her.

"How does she have a portable library?" Charlus asked.

Ron whipped his head around and stared at Harry, who's eyes were just as wide.

"Do you think she has the-"

"From our-"

"So it would have-"

"Blimey." Ron fell against the back of the couch. "That girl's a genius."

Harry laughed.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Harry and Ron sat on the floor of the drawing room, surrounded by parchment and books, while Hermione weaved her way towards them, her arms full of even more books.

"You know we do only have a week, we can't actually read your entire library." Harry said.

Hermione snorted. "Of course not. This isn't even close to everything in my library. These are just the books that could be relevant."

"Wouldn't the information just be in one book? Why do we need five hundred?" Ron asked.

"Don't exaggerate, Ron. There are only fifteen." Hermione said. "And besides, there is not a single concrete list of who was a Death Eater in any one book. Probably because they hadn't gotten the information at the time of publishing."

"Then why can't we just use the most recently published one? Wouldn't that one have all the listed Death Eaters in it, and make it so we don't have to search through fifteen separate books for one list?" Harry asked.

Hermione paused, staring at the book in her hands. Looking up, she saw the boys grinning at her. She scowled back and said, "Shut up." She picked up a book off the floor and tossed it at Harry. "That's the most recent book, find the list and copy it down. Then we can cross reference it with the list Charlus gives us."

"What are we going to do if it is only children of Death Eaters at the meeting? Would we pull another Slytherin Common Room type deal, or what?" Harry asked.

"We couldn't, there's concealment detection charms, remember? It would definitely detect Polyjuice." Ron answered.

Harry thoughtfully paged through the book Hermione gave him, thinking over everything they knew. It was a recruitment event for under seventeens, Charlus and the other Aurors at the Ministry had captured owls bearing what were now Harry, Ron, and Hermione's invitations...and the Minister was dead.

"Why kill Bagnold? Why now? What do they have to gain from her dying?" Harry asked.

"What?" Ron said. "Control of the Ministry, obviously."

"Yeah, but why now? What's going to happen soon that they need control of the Minsitry?"

"Maybe...maybe they're planning an attack. An attack on somewhere that would be weakened without the Minsitry." Hermione said.

"But why attack now? He can't have enough followers to really do anything he wants, can he? Unless he's somehow..." Harry trailed off and looked up at Hermione and Ron. "How did Charlus know to capture those owls? You can't see where an owl is headed without knowing, and they're immune to tracking charms, so how did they know? Are they just capturing every owl they see, are they reading everyone's mail? Or did they know?" Harry looked between Ron and Hermione, both of whom were staring at him. "You don't think...he's being controlled?"

"Aurors have to be able to throw off the Imperious, it's part of their training." Ron shook his head. "He's Head Auror, he can't be."

"But what if someone really powerful is casting it?" Hermione asked.

"It's not impossible." Harry said. "When Voldemort cast it on me in the graveyard, it was hard to fight, and it did end up working to some degree."

"Yeah, but you had part of him in your head. Wouldn't that make it easier for him to control you?" Ron asked.

"Or would it make it easier to throw off, since there's the mental link? We don't know. We know basically nothing about how that all worked. I suspect Dumbledore probably had some idea, but it's not like he ever told me anything useful when I needed it."

"Voldemort is an incredibly powerful wizard. So are you, Harry." Hermione said. "I think you were able to fight so well against it from him, in part because of the piece of him in your scar, but also your own innate magic. You're very being goes against everything Voldemort is, and your magic reflects that. And, while I believe Charlus is a powerful wizard and that he is capable of throwing off the Imperious under normal circumstances, these are anything but."

Harry stood, dropping the book back on the floor and turning for the door.

"I suppose there's really only one way to find out."

\-------------------------

Sirius stood in the center of his room, staring at the ceiling. He waited, watching, but nothing happened. A minute later, James bounded in, a delighted look on his face.

"Anything?"

"Nothing."

James' face fell. "Dammit. I was really hoping that one would do it."

"I don't know why you thought a charm from a third year prank book would be able to bust through stone suffused with centuries of magic." Sirius replied.

"Oh like you were so sure it wouldn't, Mr. 'Hell Yeah we can get the Slytherin's without ever even entering their dormitory!'"

"Hey, I have to try and pretend to be logical sometimes, otherwise Moony will get fed up and dump me."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, like that would ever happen."

James flopped back onto Sirius' bed, pouting, as Sirius looked on, mildly confused.

"Prongs-"

"Is there a detection charm?"

Both their heads whipped toward the hall, where they heard Ron whispering. They exchanged a glance, and simultaneously got up and crept towards the door.

"For the Imperious?" Hermione whispered back, and Sirius and James exchanged panicked looks. "I don't think so, otherwise they would've cast it back when everyone was claiming to have been under it."

"What if it just hadn't been discovered yet? That was, what nineteen eighty-two? Maybe it's in one of the more recent charm books you have, 'Mione." Harry said.

Sirius looked at James and mouthed, 'Nineteen eighty-two?'

James shrugged.

"It's worth a shot, but then if we were going to do more research, why didn't we just stay in my room?"

"Because there's....something I need to check." Harry answered. They moved out of hearing range and down the staircase, and James backed away from the door.

"I don't know what's going on, but I don't think those three are who they say they are."

"That's what I've been saying!" Sirius exclaimed, before his expression turned thoughtful. "Hermione mentioned research and her room...I'm certain if we go look we'll find something."

"What if they come back while we're in there?" James asked.

"I don't know, it's your house, you come up with something."

\------------------------------------------------------

Harry walked down the stairs and out the front door, Hermione and Ron following warily behind. They passed through the wards and Harry turned to them and held out his hands. Both Hermione and Ron readily took them, but they exchanged glances. Harry pulled them both with him into crushing darkness, and when they emerged they were standing on a Muggle street.

"Harry, where are we?" Ron asked, looking around the vaguely familiar street.

"Grimmauld Place."

"What?" Hermione whisper-yelled. "Harry, we can't be here!"

"It's okay, I just want to check something." Harry said, moving towards the line of houses. "If you're so concerned, disillusion yourself." He turned back and Hermione quickly took out her wand and rapped herself and Ron firmly on the top of the head.

"What is it you're checking, mate?" Ron asked.

"Before we left, I read about this theory. About household magic. Not like, cleaning charms and things, more with wards and such. The theory, is that once a specific type of magic is used on a building, that magic will always be on that building. Always. It doesn't just mean always as in after the charm or spell or whatever was placed on the building. It means always as in 'this magic has always been a part of this structure.' That this magic transcends time and no matter when the original spell was cast, it will be on the building from it's conception to it's demise." Harry looked back at them, and there was this light in his eyes. It was a familiar light to Ron and Hermione, they just hadn't seen it in so long. The light that came from pulling off a particularly daring catch in a Quidditch match, from mastering a difficult spell, from _teaching_ a difficult spell. It was a light that said to them, yes, this is Harry at his best, when he's feeling strong and brave and like there is nothing, _nothing_ , that can hold him back from what he needs to do.

Ron and Hermione saw this light in Harry's eyes, and they each fell a little more in love with him.

"I cast a spell like that on Grimmauld Place before I went to the Ministry that day." Harry whispered. "Before we came back. It's meant to recognize my magical signature, and allow me access." He turned and made his way for the front steps. "I didn't code it to yours though. You'll have to wait out here while I go in."

"Go in?" Hermione asked. "Why on Earth do you need to enter that building?"

"Yeah, Harry, that seems like a really unnecessary risk." Ron whispered.

"If I go in, I can see if Regulus has an invitation like the one Charlus gave us. If he does, there's the chance it's a real mission, and Charlus isn't being controlled."

"Or, that they want to get him for something too. Or maybe it really is a recruitment event, and we aren't actually going in as spies, but as recruits." Ron said. "We have to find out if he's being controlled, there is no way around that."

"But why would Charlus give us the invitations if he's being controlled and it's a real event? Why not James or Sirius and say it's a party or something?" Harry asked.

"Maybe...maybe he's fighting it?" Hermione suggested. "He knows who we are and that we could handle something like this."

"That just means I really do need to go in to see if Regulus has an invitation." Harry shook his head and climbed the steps as Ron and Hermione went to protest again. "I'm going in, wait out here for me." He took out his wand and rapped it on the top of his head, dousing himself in the disillusionment charm and fading from their view. Harry turned the handle to number twelve and it opened readily under his touch.

Glancing back towards the vague forms of Ron and Hermione, Harry entered the house, and shut the door quietly behind him.

\---------------------------------------

It was late, and the whole house seemed to be asleep. Harry crept through the familiar corridors, up to one of the top floors where he knew Regulus' room to be.

He pressed his ear to the door, listening for any sign that Regulus might be awake on the other side, and jumped when he heard voices.

"Reg, you have to go. He sent the invitations himself. They're charmed so they can't be read by anyone other than the intended recipient."

Harry didn't recognize the voice, which was weird because he thought he knew every Death Eater.

"I know I have to go, Barty, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Barty.

Barty Crouch Jr.

Harry slowly backed away from the door, and turned to creep back down the hallway when he tripped.

He landed hard on the floor and he heard Barty say, "What was that?" and footsteps approach the door.

Scrambling up, and ran as fast as he could down the hall and down the stairs, taking them three at a time, and flying through the front door, crashing into Ron and Hermione and whispering, "Go go go go go."

And together they all squeezed back into the darkness.

\------------------------------------------

James and Sirius stood abruptly when they heard a loud crack and cursing coming from outside. They dropped the books they were holding and raced out of Hermione's room, back into Sirius'.

The left the door cracked and sat down near it, waiting for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to reappear.

James looked at Sirius. "Those books, mate....why were are the publishing dates...."

"From the future?" Sirius said. James nodded. "I think it's because they are."

"Books from the future?"

"Not just books, Prongs. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, too." Sirius let his head fall back against the wall. "They're all from the future."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W H A T
> 
> You guys do not know how tempted I was to end this fic there. And have sixth, seventh, and beyond in the sequel but. I can't do it. I have to finish sixth year in this fic. 
> 
> So there are a lotttt of things I would REALLY LOVE feedback on this chapter, because I gotta know all your reactions to some of these things that I've been planning since the beginning. So please, please comment! 
> 
> By the by I'm not changing the tags for this fic because it's almost finished, so any ship stuff thats up there is gonna stay how it is. The sequel however.....
> 
> I think next chapter I'm going to have a poll of sorts so you guys can VOTE for the title of the sequel, so if you have anything in mind, leave it in the comments!


	19. Mission Status: Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You can't be Harry Potter without your trusty sidekicks." Hermione said.
> 
> "Hey now, I like to think of us more as Partners In Crime, thank you very much."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm getting better at posting these relatively close together, but that's just because we're almost to the end of BOOK ONE. of two. So hang onto your hats folks, this chapter is a flurry of emotions. I cried while writing it so.... good luck.
> 
> ALSO SOMEONE DID FANART FOR THE LAST CHAPTER AND I LOVE THEM FOREVER HERES TO U GOOBER826 
> 
> LINK TO ART: [https://goober826.tumblr.com/post/167319763787/james-looked-at-sirius-those-books-matewhy]

MYM(L)18

Mission Status: Broken

\---------------------

Standing in front of what appeared to be a decrepit old building, Ron looked at Harry and Hermione.

"So, we're really doing this?"

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Harry muttered. "Who knows what he charmed the parchment with? Not going could end very badly."

"Riddle. Fucking up our lives before he even knows who we are." Ron said.

"Who do you think we'll see in there?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked down, and grabbed Hermione's hand. She glanced at him, and reached for Ron's.

"I think we'll find a bunch of kids who don't know what they're getting themselves into, who want to make their parents proud." Harry sighed and looked at the others. "It's going to be up to us to show them the way out."

"Let's do this, then." Ron gestured Harry forward first, and they all straightened their robes and their postures, trying to look as Properly Pureblood as they could manage.

The Trio pushed open the doors and took in their surroundings. The decrepit outside was just for show, like a lot of Wizarding establishments, because the inside was lavish, positively dripping with wealth and, from what Harry could see, protective enchantments. Children stood around the room in huddles, whispering and quietly as they could to each other.

There was an oppressive feeling in the room. It was magic, but it was also fear. It rose every time someone came in through the door, and didn't seem like it was going to fall anytime soon. It was something Harry had felt before. The pressure behind his ears, his chest constricting, his muscles tense.

It was the feeling Harry got every time he saw Voldemort.

Harry clenched his fist to keep himself from drawing his wand, and turned to the others.

"He's here." He whispered, moving towards the back wall.

Ron and Hermione looked at him, their eyes wide.

"You don't know because of...you know...do you?" Ron whispered back.

"No, and I certainly hope I'll never know that way again." Harry pressed his back against the wall, and the other two followed suit, pretending to just be leaning casually. They scanned the room again, taking note of faces and who to look for at Hogwarts when-

"Him."

Harry was staring hard at a boy across the room, his blond hair swept neatly off his forehead. He was clutching his hands together so hard that his knuckles turned white, and his eyes darted frantically around the room until they landed on the Trio.

Peter Pettigrew froze, his eyes widening, and his body tensing more than it already was.

Hermione looked back at Harry. "You have to give him a chance. He hasn't done anything yet. He's just a kid."

"He doesn't know what he's getting into, and he's scared. As much as I hate Wormtail, this Peter isn't him." Ron said.

"I know." Harry raised his hand slightly, and gestured Peter to come over.

Shaking, Peter made his way over to them. The closer he got, the more noticeable it was that he was sweating. A lot.

"Peter," Harry whispered, "what's going on, why are you here?"

"I got the invitation, and I-I didn't know what to d-do." Peter's voice shook, and Harry reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Peter. We won't let anything happen to you."

"Why aren't you scared?" Peter whispered. "You're just kids, like me, you should be scared, You-Know-Who is here."

Harry opened his mouth to answer, just as a door slammed, and every person in the room jumped.

Six figures in black robes and silver masks marching into the room. They had their wands drawn, and their posture said they weren't afraid to use them.

The six Death Eaters spread out on either side of the doorway, and behind them entered a tall man with dark hair. He looked so different from when Harry knew him. More like a person.

If anything, it made him more frightening.

Someone with the face of a snake, you're not surprised when they're a monster.

But when they look normal, like someone you could pass on the street....that's when you realize it could be anyone.

Anyone could be a monster, and you'd never know.

Peter shrank back against Harry, making himself as small as possible, but Voldemort caught the movement. His eyes tracked Peter's motion, and then slid smoothly over Harry's face, scanning him, and the others. His eyes only made the briefest contact with Harry's, but it was enough.

Enough for Harry to freeze, for fear and rage to flood his body. Because in his eyes, Harry saw the same desire for destruction, the same murderous insanity that he always saw in Voldemort's eyes back in their time.

A look he never thought he'd see again.

If seeing his parents, and Remus, and Sirius hadn't fully convinced him he was in the past, this would have. Looking into the eyes of the man who was his greatest enemy, who wanted to kill him before he was even born.

The eyes of the man he killed.

Harry started when Hermione touched her hand to his arm, silently asking if he was okay.

He wasn't.

"Children, now, settle down." The silky, lethal voice of Voldemort rang out. No one had moved or spoken since he entered the room, and he smiled, thinly, and deadly. "Good. Now, let's get started."

He started pacing, back and forth in front of his waiting Death Eaters. "You're all here, because I invited you. I have heard of you, or your families, and decided to...meet you.

"You see, I have come to realize that I don't have enough young blood among my followers. And so, I invited you, powerful and influential young wizards and witches, to see if you'd...like to join my forces."

Voldemort stopped talking, and everyone remained tense and silent. His eyes swept the room once more, and again, he smiled.

"You know who I am and what I do." He turned to leave, but paused. "I will call you all here again to hear your answer. I suggest you not ignore it." And with that, he left, his Death Eater guards marching dutifully behind him.

As soon as the door closed behind them, a handful of kids around the room, including Peter, collapsed against the wall or onto the floor. The once deadly silent room was now filled with harsh breathing and half-muffled sobs. Harry crouched next to Peter and asked, "Are you okay?"

Peter shook his head slowly, his face extremely pale. "I don't...I don't know what to do, Harry."

"Don't worry." Ron said, crouching down with Harry. "We'll help you."

"Come on," Hermione said from above them, as she looked around the room. "We ought to get going, no one is going to appreciate our presence here longer than is necessary."

"Right, up you get, Peter." Harry and Ron each grabbed one of Peter's arms and hauled him up, and held onto him as they all walked out the door. "I think we'd best take the Knight Bus back to the Manor." Harry said.

Ron groaned. "Great. I'm going to throw up for sure now."

Peter looked up at him in surprise. "Why would you throw up, why not say me?"

"Well, I know what my stomach feels like after a revolting display like the one in there, and I'm not you, or inside your body, so I don't know why I'd make assumptions about you throwing up." Ron said, raising an eyebrow at Peter. "That would be rude, wouldn't it?"

If anything, Peter's eyes grew wider. "James and Sirius would never have admitted to being scared or disgusted by anything, they'd always pass the gross stuff off on me."

Harry sighed heavily on the other side of Peter. "James and Sirius can be pretty thick most of the time, Pete, you needn't take everything they say about you. If you need help telling them that makes you uncomfortable, we can help." He looked over and smiled. "We know a thing or two about bullies."

"But..." Peter looked dumbfounded. "You like James and Sirius, don't you?"

"Of course we do, Peter." Hermione said softly. "But just because we like someone doesn't stop them from being a bully. It just means that we get to help them see sense, and to help them learn that just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should."

Ron drew his wand and threw out his arm, continuing to talk. "Yeah, some of the things we've heard about James and Sirius are not okay, and the things we've seen for ourselves. Especially to you, Peter. They're your friends, you shouldn't have to be the butt of all their jokes, that's not fair to you. You've got to stand up for yourself more often."

Hermione paid the Knight Bus conductor, and the four of them crowded together on one of the rickety beds. "And if you don't think you can, or if you don't think they'll listen, we'll be there to back you up." She said.

"Bullying will not be tolerated." Harry said. "By school children or adults aiming to take over the Wizarding World."

"'I suggest you not ignore it.' Yeah, sure, okay, I totally won't just chuck it into the fireplace, no ignoring at all." Ron mocked. "Merlin, can he just fuck off. I mean really, what kind of adult wants children in their army?"

"The evil ones." Harry said.*

They all lapsed into silence as the Knight Bus jerked and rumbled along, finally screeching to a loud stop in front of the gates to Potter Manor.

"Oh," Peter said as the other three got up, "I don't have any money for a ride to my house."

"C'mon, Peter, like we're going to let you go home alone. I doubt the Potters will mind you spending the night." Hermione said.

"Well... alright, I suppose."

"Brilliant. Just wait till you've tried Solie's new cookie recipe. It's one of the greatest things I've ever eaten." Ron said.

"And trust me," Harry said, "he's eaten quite a lot of things."

Ron scoffed and shoved Harry off the last step of the bus, making him stumble. Harry laughed loudly and took off through the gates towards the house, Ron chasing after him, shouting.

Hermione and Peter stepped off the bus with a tad more grace, and grinned at each other. "Idiots." Hermione said.

\----------------------------------------------------------

After informing the Potters of Peter's presence and getting a few of Solie's coveted cookies, everyone retired to their rooms. Harry was pulling on his pajama shirt when he heard something in the hall. It sounded like...a girl...calling his name? He went out into the hallway and knocked on Hermione's door.

"'Mione? Did you need something?"

A moment passed, and he raised his hand to knock again, when Hermione opened the door. "Harry, what do you want, I was just about to go to sleep."

"What? But...I heard you call my name."

"You can't have, because I have silencing charms put up so when I'm up researching all night I don't keep anyone else awake. It's impossible for you to have heard me."

"Well, then who did I hear?" Harry asked, and he heard it again. A voice calling from downstairs. He looked at Hermione who was looking at him in confusion and said, "Get Ron, and meet me downstairs."

He turned and jogged to the staircase as Hermione called after him, "Why do you need Ron?"

Harry cautiously entered the living room, and looked around. It was empty. He shook his head and blinked a few times to see if he was missing something in the dark, but there was nothing.

He heard feet coming down the stairs, and was turning to meet them when he felt a brush of familiar magic. Ron and Hermione entered the room, and Harry opened his mouth to say something, when the magic knocked him to the ground.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked, while Ron drew him wand and lit all the candles in the room, searching for what happened.

"Harry? Harry can you hear me?" Hermione's voice and face were overlaid with another's. A more freckled someone, with a voice like flower petals in the rain.

Ginny.

It was the same thing that happened at Hogwarts, a flash, a glimpse into the future. His future, or is it his past?

"You can hear me. Brilliant." Ginny stood and backed away from him, and he could see that she was in a version of Potter Manor he'd never been to. A dirtier, older version. The Potter Manor from the future they left behind.

"Ginny-"

"How dare you, Harry Potter?" Ginny said. Her voice was filled with rage, with despair. "How _dare_ you leave me here like this? How dare you think that just because you _can_ travel back in time, means that you should?" Her eyes filled with tears, and they had no hesitation before beginning to pour down her face.

"Ginny-"

"NO." She shouted. "You don't get to say anything. You left me, Harry. You left me here, taking my brother with you. How do you think it feels, Harry, to lose another brother so soon after losing Fred? Did you even think of that? Did you even _think_ about how others would feel about this reckless decision you made? You took my brother, Harry." Ginny's chest was heaving, and her tears weren't showing any sign of stopping.

"You took my best friend. The girl who was like my sister. And you took yourself." She stopped and stared at him for a moment, her image blurring for a moment. "Do you realize, Harry? Do you realize how fucking _selfish_ you are? Why do you think that they need you more than we do? You didn't fight to keep them alive, Harry! I'm really sorry, but they were already dead. You fought for us, for me, for the people you left behind! All the people you fought for and saved, you just left. Abandoned. Tossed aside like they were nothing."

"Ginny, I"m so-"

"Teddy."

Harry stopped, and closed his eyes. "Ginny-"

"You left your godson, an infant who actually, literally needs you. You took another person from him too. Andromeda didn't know Remus like you did, Harry. How is Teddy going to learn about his father? Are we going to have to tell him stories about his godfather who loved him so very much that he left him? Yeah, Remus totally chose the right person."

Ginny started to fade in and out of view, sometimes being replaced by the concerned faces of Ron and Hermione.

"Harry?" Ginny came closer, her face red and tear stained. She was a foot from his face when suddenly she was clear again. "I can't believe that you thought a fucking second hand sorry, from McGonagall of all people, was going to be enough for me. You left, and I'll never forgive you for that." She paused and wiped a hand across her face, and sniffled. "I'll always love you, Harry. You'll always be my Chosen One. But I can never forgive you for this."

She stood, turned, and walked out of the room. The vision faded, and Harry collapsed.

\-----------------------------------------------------

The Trio were once again huddled together on Harry's bed, already in their pajamas. Ron and Hermione each had one of Harry's hands clasped in their own. Harry himself was staring blankly at the wall opposite.

"So...you saw Ginny...and she tore you a new one for leaving." Ron said. "At least she can't hex you through these vision things. I'm not fond of her bat-bogey."

"I can't really blame her. Everything she said is true. I did leave them all behind to chase something that was basically just a hope, a dream. The dream of a lonely little boy who just wants to know where he comes from." Harry shook his head. "I don't know. We can't even really go back, even if we wanted to. I don't even know how these visions are reaching me. That future doesn't exist anymore."

Ron squinted his eyes at him. "What do you mean, it doesn't exist?"

"Well, okay, it exists, it's just a different time stream. It's still moving forward as we are, just without us, and without all the changes we're making now." Harry said.

"So...to my family, it's going to be like they never get to see me again?" Ron asked. Harry nodded and Ron sighed. "Ginny should've yelled at me too.

"It's not your fault, it's mine. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me." Harry said.

"Yes, Harry, but we did have a choice in the matter. We didn't have to come with you." Hermione said. "We came because we love you and knew you'd need us, doing whatever you planned on doing."

"You always need us." Ron said.

"You can't be Harry Potter without your trusty sidekicks." Hermione said.

"Hey now, I like to think of us more as Partners In Crime, thank you very much."

"You two are crazy." Harry said, and he wrapped his arms around both of them, pulling them backwards and laying down. "But I love you anyway."

Hermione crawled over Harry and wormed her way into between him and Ron, cuddling against both of them. "Go to sleep, loves." Turning her head, she kissed them both on the tip of their noses. Harry wrapped his arms around her and Ron snuggled against her back.

All thoughts of past, present, future, and the people they left behind left their minds, and all they felt was each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEEEEEE I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter is gonna be some fluffy goodness so get hype. Only two chapters left!!!!!!
> 
> Thanks for reading, please comment!


	20. Is It Christmas Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Merlin, what is up with you two? You're acting like they murdered your cat." Remus said. 
> 
> "Remus, c'mon, you know I'm a dog person." Sirius said. Remus rolled his eyes, and slid open an empty compartment door.
> 
> "Sirius and I have something we have to tell you guys. Something we found out about Harry, Ron, and Hermione." James said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello friends!! I don't remember the last time I updated this, so lets just say its been awhile. 
> 
> Happy reading!

MYM(L)19

 

\-----------------------------

The train ride back to Hogwarts was mostly uneventful. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gawked and whispered about by the other Hogwarts students who were at the Death Eater meeting. It seems they all realized at once where they recognized them from.

The Marauders split from them as soon as they got on the train, hurrying away to another compartment and not looking back.

"Do you think they're going to follow us?" Peter asked. 

"Nah, they probably have things to talk about that they don't want us overhearing." Sirius said, a dark look on his face.

"Merlin, what is up with you two? You're acting like they murdered your cat." Remus said. 

"Remus, c'mon, you know I'm a dog person." Sirius said. Remus rolled his eyes, and slid open an empty compartment door.

"Sirius and I have something we have to tell you guys. Something we found out about Harry, Ron, and Hermione." James said.

Remus paused in putting his trunk on the rack. "How important is it? Because I have to go to my prefects meeting."

"You have to hear this, skip your meeting." Sirius said, throwing himself down on the seat.

"Yeah, just like you should skip Quidditch tryouts this year." Remus rolled his eyes. "I'll try to be as quick as I can."

Remus left the compartment and Peter sighed. "Great. Now we get to wait for the big news. Yippie."

\-------------------------------------------------------

After the Prefect's meeting, Remus rushed out of the compartment and down the corridor, only to slow down by a compartment with the curtains drawn. 

"Hermione, that's not how you play, c'mon. You've been in the wizarding world for eight years now, and you're telling me you still don't know how to play Gobstones?" Ron's voice exclaimed. 

"Really Ron. When would I have had time to learn, between studying and saving both your lives-" 

Remus didn't hear the rest of her sentence over Ron's indignant spluttering and Harry's uproarious laughter.

But he heard enough.

Darting down the train, he found the Marauder's compartment and slipped in quickly, sliding the door shut behind him.

"I think Harry, Ron, and Hermione are time travelers." He blurted out.

The three others looked up at him with various expressions of shock. Peter's was entirely disbelieving, but James and Sirius looked more confused.

"What??" Peter said.

"How do you know, did you see something?" Sirius jumped eagerly to his feet and crowded Remus. 

"Sirius, I love you, but this is not the time for you to be this close." 

"Yeah, kiss your boyfriend later, Padfoot. Right now I want to know how Moony figured it out before we told him." James said. 

"You already knew? For how long?" Remus asked.

"A couple weeks, I guess. They went off somewhere and were gone for ages so Sirius and I decided to look through their stuff." 

Remus pushed Sirius onto the seat and sat down next to him, eyebrows scrunched together. "And how did that lead to the conclusion of them being from the future?"

"They have books from the future. The publishing dates were all from years that haven't happened yet. And it wasn't just a typo, because we checked a couple different books, and they all had different publishing dates, all in the future." Sirius said. 

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione are from...the future?" Peter asked. "How far into the future? Why are they here?"

"As far as I could figure, they couldn't have come back from a year before nineteen ninety-six. They had a book from that year, but not anything from years farther than that." Sirius said.

"You're being serious? You all actually think they're time travelers?" Peter asked.

"It's the only logical explanation." James said. 

"But why would they have come back at all? Why not stay in their own time, I mean, surely the war would've ended and they'd be living in peace. Why come back to a time where the war is still happening?" Peter couldn't wrap his mind around it. 

They all sat in silence, thinking over Peter's question.

Why did they come back?

Everyone was jolted out of their thoughts by the train slowing down. 

"We have to get dressed, we can talk about this later." Remus said, standing and pulling trunks down.

"When? In the dorm we share with the time travelers?" Sirius asked, sarcastically.

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Remus said throwing Sirius his robes.

\---------------------------------------------

The school year flew by, and before they knew it, it was Christmas again. Harry didn't know how to feel about Christmas with his family this year. The Marauders had been acting weird since summer, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. 

"Do you think we should stay at Hogwarts this year? It has been awhile since we've had a good Hogwarts Christmas." Harry asked Hermione. 

"What?" Hermione said. "You don't want to spend Christmas with your family this year?"

 

Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "I don't know. Everything just seems off, you know? James and Sirius and Remus have been acting really weird recently."

 

"What about Peter?"

 

"Peter's always weird, and with the meeting we all went to, him being weird is what is expected." 

"Okay..." Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "Harry, what is this really about?"

He looked back over at her, confused. "What do you mean, really about?"

"I mean, is this really about Christmas? Or is it that you're afraid something's going to happen?" 

Harry ducked his head. As usual, Hermione could see right through him. 

When he didn't answer, she poked him in the side. "C'mon, Harry, talk to me. Or do I need to go get Ron? I know he can be very persuasive."

Harry was almost tempted to make her get Ron. 

He sighed. "I don't want them to get hurt because of me."

"Harry, why on Earth would they get hurt by going home for Christmas?" Hermione nudged him with her shoulder. "Hey. Look at me." Harry reluctantly tilted his head toward her. "Nothing's going to happen, okay? We haven't even really done anything this year. There is no reason for them to be targets."

"Yes there is. When we fought Bellatrix last year, she called me 'Potter'. She knows we have a connection with them. And we never did go back for her once Lily figured out who we really are." Harry said, slumping back against the wall. Other students walked through the courtyard and gave him weird looks, silently judging him.

"Well, if that's the case, then they're going to find them whether we're there or not." Harry looked over at her sharply, and she raised her hands in defense. "What? It's true. They aren't going to know that we aren't home for the holiday. Wouldn't you rather us be with them and able to protect them, than worrying about when you're three hundred miles away?"

Harry smiled at her. "Thanks, Hermione. I honestly don't know where my brain went, I swear I had it when I got on the train first year." She laughed and Harry was slightly mesmerized. He scanned the courtyard to see if anyone was around, and when he found there wasn't, he took Hermione's face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of her nose. 

She smiled and batted his hands away. "Harry, we're in the public courtyard." 

"Don't worry, I checked to make sure no one was here before I did it. Despite having no brain, I can be smart sometimes." Harry grinned as she laughed again, and pushed off the wall, walking back into the castle.

\-----------------------------------------

Remus pressed himself to the wall as Hermione and Harry walked past, hoping they didn't see him.

Well. Christmas at the Potters was going to be really weird, once the other Marauders hear about this. 

Remus waited for Harry and Hermione to disappear around the corner, then he took off in the other direction.

Dashing through secret passageways, Remus arrived at the Gryffindor Common Room before Harry and Hermione, burst in, looked at the other Marauders, and walked back out again. The sound of scrambling feet reached him outside the portrait hole, and then James, Sirius, and Peter fell through. They all got up and Remus dragged them to the nearest classroom, and Sirius warded the door. 

"What is it, Moony?" James asked. 

"I just saw Harry kiss Hermione? And not in like a sweet sibling way either." 

"What."

"What?"

"How?"

Sirius and Peter looked at James. "How?" Sirius asked. 

"Yeah, how did he kiss her?" James asked, looking back. "What, why are you all looking at me like that?" 

"Remus just said that Harry just kissed his sister and you want to know how." Sirius said.

"It looked like on the mouth." Remus said, cutting off James' reply. 

They all stood in silence for a moment digesting that when Peter said, "You ever think about how they all say their birthdays are on different days?"

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean, Wormy?" Remus asked.

"Well, when we first met them, Hermione said her birthday was September nineteenth. But then they celebrated Ron's birthday in March, and Harry's in July. If they were siblings, wouldn't they all have the same birthday? Since they're all the same age?" 

The other three Marauders stared at Peter, and then each other. 

"We have to confront them, right now." James said, pulling on the door handle, forgetting Sirius had put up wards. 

"We should wait until we're home for the holiday." Sirius said, not taking down his wards to let James out. 

"You think I want them in our house knowing they're lying to us?" James said.

"James-"

Remus tuned them out, and flopped down in a desk, Peter copying his movements.

"Well, Pete. Looks like this is going to be a fun Christmas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda iffy about this chapter, so hopefully you guys like it. 
> 
> YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD LOVE if someone....anyone....drew the Harry and Hermione cute lil kiss bc I wrote it and was s c r e a m i n g bc I think its adorable, so if you do.....you have my tumblr.....its the same its glove23.......plz plz tag me in it Or any fanart you feel like doing for this if you're so inclined and want me to see it I will Gladly G l a d l y reblog it twelve times.
> 
> Anyway! Next chapter..........is the last chapter.......of book one.......... This is ur last chance to have a say in what the title of book two should be.....so if you got any good puns or just a really good title that you'd like it to be.....comment below and I'll make a Poll with my favorites and put the link in chapter 20 so you guys can pick......if you want to......please want to......
> 
> Any anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! See ya soon, hopefully in two weeks when I Plan to put the next chapter out!
> 
> Peace!
> 
> Glove

**Author's Note:**

> Comment, or message me on my tumblr, glove23. I'm always ready to talk to you about MYM(L)


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